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Flashcards

Attachment

Amy Warrell Psychology A level English 190 cards

Cards in this deck (190)

  1. 1What is attachment?A close and reciprocal emotional tie between two people, usually a mother and child, in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security
  2. 2How long does attachment in humans take to develop?Few months
  3. 3What are attachments behaviours in humans?- Seeking proximity
    - Distress on separation/joy on reunion
    - Secure-base behaviour
  4. 4What is meant by seeking proximity?Staying physically close to those they are attached to
  5. 5What is meant by distress on separation?Showing anxiety/being upset when the attachment figure leaves their presence
  6. 6What is meant by secure-base behaviour?The attachment figure is used as a safe base to explore the world from - infants display this when they regularly return to attachment figure while playing.
    Even when we are independent from the attachment figure, we tend to make regular contact with them.
  7. 7What is reciprocity in caregiver-infant interactions?When the infant responds to the actions of another person; when the actions of one person elicits a response from the other
  8. 8What do babies have to indicate that they are ready for interaction?Periodic 'alert' phases - mothers typically pick up on and respond to these around 2/3 of the time (Feldman & Eidelman, 2007)
  9. 9What happens in caregiver-infant interactions from three months on?Interaction becomes increasingly frequent and involves close attention to each other's verbal signals and facial expressions (Feldman, 2007)
  10. 10What traditional view does the idea of reciprocity challenge?That the baby has a passive role; reciprocity shows the baby takes an active role
  11. 11What is interactional synchrony?Where the infant mirrors that actions of another person - done in a coordinated way
  12. 12Study supporting importance of interactional synchronyIsabella et al. (1989): observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed degree of synchrony and quality of attachment.
    Found that high levels of synchrony were associated with a better quality of attachment.
  13. 13Study: Meltzoff and Moore (1977)Looked at interactional synchrony in infants as young as 2 weeks old.
    Adult model displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions/hand movements and child's response was filmed and identified by independent observers.
    Found an association between infant behaviour and adult model
  14. 14Evaluate: Meltzoff and Moore (1977)1. Replicated study 6 years later
    2. Other researchers have been unable to replicate findings
    3. Reliability of testing infants
  15. 15Evaluate: Meltzoff and Moore (1977) 1. Replicated study 6 years later(1983) With infants as young as 3 days old. Found that they demonstrated same synchrony - suggests this is innate behaviour. Implies that original finings were reliable and caregiver-infant interactions are innate mechanisms used to develop an attachment bond.
  16. 16Evaluate: Meltzoff and Moore (1977) 2. Other researchers have been unable to replicate findingsKoepke et al. (1983) tried to replicate but failed to produce same results. Matters because it questions reliability of original findings and replication 6 years later, and indicates need for additional research in this area.
  17. 17Evaluate: Meltzoff and Moore (1977) 3. Reliability of testing infantsInfants pull 'funny faces' all the time and it is not uncommon for an infant to yawn/smile etc. Difficult to distinguish between normal behaviour and imitation. Unable to conclude where results of M+Ms research demonstrates caregiver-infant interactions or everyday infant behaviour. Again, more research needed.
  18. 18Evaluate: Research into caregiver-infant interactions1. Hard to know what is happening when observing infants
    2. Controlled observations capture fine detail
    3. Observations don't indicate purpose of synchrony/reciprocity
  19. 19Evaluate: Research into caregiver-infant ineractions 1. Hard to know what is happening when observing infantsMany studies have shown the same patterns of interaction (e.g. Gratier, 2003), however only physical behaviours are being observed so hard to know what is taking place from infant's perspective. Cannot really know that behaviours observed have a special meaning.
  20. 20Evaluate: Research into caregiver-infant interactions 2. Controlled observations capture fine detailGenerally well-controlled procedures with interactions being filmed from many angles so ensures that small details are recorded. Babies often do not know/care that they are being filmed so behaviour doesn't change (often problem of observational research). Findings have high external validity.
  21. 21Evaluate: Research into caregiver-infant interactions 3. Observations don't indicate purpose of interactionsFeldman (2012) said that the ideas of synchrony/reciprocity only describe behaviours that happen at the same time; they are robust phenomena in that they can be reliably observed, but they don't tell us much. Some research suggest they are useful in development of attachments; in stress response, empathy, language and moral development. Cannot conclude a sole purpose.
  22. 22Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found what?Majority of babies became attached to mother first, then within a few weeks or months formed secondary attachments to other family members. In 75% of the infants studied, attachment was formed with the father by age of 18 months.
  23. 23Role of the father: Grossman (2002)Longitudinal study looking at parents behaviour and its relationship to quality of children's attachment into teens. Quality of infant attachment with mother was related to attachment as a teen, but no with father - suggests father is less important. Quality of fathers play with infant was related to attachment as a teen - fathers have a more playful role instead of nurturing.
  24. 24What has traditionally been the role of the father?Very minor role in child-rearing. Working and providing resources for family while mother took care of children.
  25. 25Three views on the role of the father1. Men not physiologically or socially equipped to form attachments: oestrogen underlies caring behaviour so women more suited biologically; social expectations generally view child-rearing as stereotypically female role which may deter some men.
    2. Fathers provide a playmate role
    3. Fathers can demonstrate sensitive responsiveness
  26. 26Evaluation: 1. Evidence for not being equipped to provide a nurturing/sensitive attachmentHrdy (1999) - fathers less able to detect low levels of infant distress compared to mothers. This appears to support the biological explanation; lack of oestrogen in men means that they are not biologically equipped to form close attachment. Also suggests that role of the father is to some extent biologically determined and is thus restricted by their biological makeup; however as some fathers are able to form close attachments with their children, a softer view of determinism may be more appropriate. Evidence that fathers are unable to be sensitive.
  27. 27Evaluation: 2. Evidence for role as a playmateGeiger (1996) found that father's play interactions were more exciting in comparison to mothers. Mothers interactions were more nurturing/affectionate. Suggests role is as a playmate and not a sensitive parent who responds to needs of the child. Also confirms that mothers have more of a nurturing role.
  28. 28Evaluation: 3. Evidence for ability to fomr secure attachmentsBelsky et al. (2009) found males who reported higher levels of marital intimacy displayed a secure father-infant attachment (males with less marital intimacy showed insecure attachments to children). Suggests males are able to form secure attachments but this depends on father-mother relationship.
  29. 29Fathers as primary caregivers?When taking on role of the primary caregiver, they adopt behaviours more typical of mothers.
    Field (1978) filmed 4 month olds in face to face interaction with primary cgv mothers, secondary cgv fathers and primary cgv fathers. Primary cgv fathers spent more time smiling/imitating/holding hands than secondary; similar to mother.
    Key to attachment is responsiveness not gender.
    10% of British single parents are male.
  30. 30More evaluation for role of the father1. Inconsistent findings on fathers - some psychologists focus on father as secondary cgv, and some focus on them as the primary cgv. Cannot provide a clear answer of what the role of the father is.
    2. Role as secondary attachment figure is not important - some studies (MacCallum & Golombok, 2004) found that children in single or same-sex parent families do not develop any differently than those in two-parent heterosexual families.
  31. 31Schaffer and Emerson (1964) studyFormation of early attachment:
    60 babies from skilled working class families in Glasgow
    Babies and mothers visited at home every month for first year and again at 18 months
    Researchers asked mothers about separation and stranger anxiety shown in seven everyday situations
  32. 32Schaffer and Emerson (1964) findingsBetween 25 and 32 weeks old, 50% showed signs of separation anxiety towards a particular adult - specific attachment
    Attachment tended to be towards caregiver who showed most reciprocity
    By 40 weeks, 80% had specific attachments and 30% showed multiple
  33. 33Evaluate: Schaffer and Emerson (1964)1. Good external validity
    2. Longitudinal design
    3. Limited sample characteristics
  34. 34Evaluate: Schaffer and Emerson (1964) 1. Good external validityCarried out in family's own home and most observations done by parents and reported later so babies unlikely to be affected by the presence of observers
  35. 35Evaluate: Schaffer and Emerson (1964) 2. Longitudinal designSame children followed up and observed regularly. Better internal validity than cross-sectional design as do not have confounding variable of individual differences.
  36. 36Evaluate: Schaffer and Emerson (1964) 3. Limited sample characteristicsSample size good considering volume of data collected but all families from same district and social class, at a time over 50 years ago. Cannot generalise to other social or historical contexts as child-rearing practices differ between cultures and change over time.
  37. 37Extra evaluation point: Limited behavioural measures of attachmentWere able to carry out a scientific study of attachment development as they used simple behaviours to define attachment (separation/stranger anxiety). Some critics believe these are too crude as measures of attachment, because there are other factors involved in attachment (e.g. secure-base behaviour) so their observations may not be totally reliable as they ignored these other factors. On the other hand, using simple behaviours means that this study is very easily replicable so that the validity and reliability of their findings could be tested.
  38. 38What are the four stages of attachment proposed by Schaffer?Asocial stage
    Indiscriminate attachment
    Discriminate/specific attachment
    Multiple attachments
  39. 39What is the asocial stage?0-6 weeks
    Shows similar responses to objects and people but do show preference for faces/eyes
    Happier in presence of humans
  40. 40What is the indiscriminate attachment stage?6 weeks - 6 months
    Now shows preference for human company over non-human company
    Ability to distinguish between people but comforted by anyone
    No separation or stranger anxiety
  41. 41What is the discriminate attachment stage?7-12 months
    Shows preference for one caregiver
    Displays separation and stranger anxiety
    Looks to a particular person for security/comfort
    Infant has formed a specific attachment
  42. 42What is the multiple attachments stage?1 year +
    Attachment behaviours now displayed towards several people (e.g. siblings, grandparents)
  43. 43Evaluate: Stages of attachment1. Issues studying asocial stage
    2. Conflicting evidence on multiple attachments
    3. Measuring multiple attachments
  44. 44Evaluate: Stages of attachment 1. Issues studying asocial stageBabies are very young and practically immobile, poor coordination - not much observable behaviour. Difficult to judge them based on their behaviour. This does not mean that the child's emotions/cognitions are not social, but evidence cannot be relied on.
  45. 45Evaluate: Stages of attachment 2. Conflicting evidence on multiple attachmentsStill not clear when they are formed. Some research (e.g. Bowlby 1969) suggests infants make attachments to a single primary cgv before being able to make multiple. Others (e.g. Ijzendoorn et al. 1993) especially those who work in collectivist cultures, say that multiple attachments are formed from the outset.
  46. 46Evaluate: Stages of attachment 3. Measuring multiple attachmentsEven if a baby is distressed when an individual leaves does not mean that that person is a true caregiver. Children have playmates as well and show distress on their leaving even though there may not be a strong attachment. Schaffer has not given a way of distinguishing between behaviour shown towards secondary attachment figures and playmates.
  47. 47What perspective does Bowlby's theory of attachment (1958) take? [Aka monotropic theory]Evolutionary - Bowlby suggests that infants are born with an innate tendency to form attachments in order to increase their chances of survival
  48. 48What are the 5 key concepts involved in Bowlby's theory of attachment?1. Attachments are ADAPTIVE
    2. Babies have SOCIAL RELEASERS
    3. Babies must form an attachment with cgv during a CRITICAL PERIOD
    4. MONOTROPY
    5. Infant forms an INTERNAL WORKING MODEL through this monotropy
  49. 49What is meant by 'attachments are adaptive'?If an infant has an attachment to a cgv, they are kept safe, fed and warm.
    They also have their own adaptive behaviours to ensure their own survival.
  50. 50Examples of adaptive behaviours?- Rooting: automatically turning towards a stimulus such as touch of something to the lips or cheek, and making sucking/swallowing reflexes to take in nourishment
    - Maintaining body temp: shivering and tucking in legs into body to stay warm/automatically pushing off blankets and decreasing movement to cool down
    - Breathing: moving arms and legs when something covers the face to ensure oxygen intake
  51. 51What is meant by 'social releasers'?Babies are born with innate behaviours that 'unlock' an innate tendency/attachment behaviours in adults - purpose is to activate the adult attachment system to care for them
  52. 52Examples of social releasersPhysical - typical 'baby face' features and body proportions
    Behavioural - crying, cooing, smiling, giggling
  53. 53What is meant by the 'critical period'?The time within which an attachment must form if it is to form at all. In humans this is between birth and 2.5 years old.
    Bowlby said that if a child doesn't form an attachment during this time then the child would be damage socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically. Not forming an attachment in this time makes it very difficult to form secure attachments later in life.
  54. 54What is meant by 'monotropy'?Infants form one very special and intense attachment with their mother/ever-present mother-substitute/primary attachment figure. This is of central importance in the child's development and is unique to all other attachments
  55. 55What are the 2 principles Bowlby proposed to clarify monotropy?1. Law of continuity: the more constant and predictable a child's care, the better the quality of attachment
    2. Law of accumulated separation - effects of every separation from the mother add up
  56. 56What is meant by the 'internal working model'?Formed through the monotropic attachment, this is a special model/mental representation for relationships. All of a child's future relationships will be based on their early attachment relationship, and also affects their later ability to be a parent themselves.
    E.g. children from functional families tend to have similar families themselves
  57. 57Evaluate: Bolby's theory of attachment (1958)1. Supporting research by Lorenz (1935)
    2. Supporting research by Hazan & Shaver (1987)
    3. Counter research by Rutter et al. (1988)
    4. Mixed evidence for monotropy
    5. Support for social releasers
  58. 58Evaluate: Bowlby's theory of attachment (1958) 1. Supporting research by Lorenz (1935)Lorenz divided group of geese eggs into 2 groups: one group left with natural mothers and other placed in an incubator. Ensured that when eggs in incubator hatched, he was the first moving object they saw. Found that baby geese imprinted onto him, concluding that imprinting is an innate biological response which takes place within first few hours of life. Supports idea of 'critical period' - supports notion tat some animals form an innate attachment during very specific time frame. [However this study was on animals not humans, which questions the generalisability of these findings to attachment in humans.]
  59. 59Evaluate: Bowlby's theory of attachment (1958) 2. Supporting research by Hazan and Shaver (1987)Conducted a 'Love Quiz' involving 620 Ps. 42% were married and 31% were dating. Results showed positive correlation between attachment type and later love experiences. Supports idea of 'internal working model' and suggests that early childhood relationships affect later adult relationships.
  60. 60Evaluate: Bowlby's theory of attachment (1958) 3. Counter research by Rutter et al. (1988)In Romanian orphan studies: carried out research involving orphans who did not form an attachment during the critical period. Found that when adopted into UK or US families, they were still able to form an attachment, but it took them longer to do so. Claimed that idea of a critical period was wrong, and that it should be called a 'sensitive period'. Suggests Bowlby's original theory is not correct as children were still able to form an attachment after the critical period and develop normally; just takes longer.
  61. 61Evaluate: Bowlby's theory of attachment (1958) 4. Mixed evidence for monotropyBowlby said that only after this attachment could multiple attachments be formed. Schaffer & Emerson (1964) found that while most babies did attach to one person first, a significant minority appeared able to form multiple attachments at same time.
    Also unclear whether there is actually something unique about the monotropic attachment - studies tend to show that attachment to mother is more influential in later life than attachment to father (Suess et al., 1992), but this could just mean that it is a stronger attachment, not necessarily of better quality.
  62. 62Evaluate: Bowlby's theory of attachment (1958) 5. Support for social releasersBrazleton et al. (1975) observed mother and baby interactions, reporting existence of interactional synchrony. Extended study into an experiment: still face paradigm, where primary attachment figure was instructed to ignore babies' signals/social releasers. Initially showed some distress but when they continued to be ignored, some responded by curling up and lying motionless. Fact that they responded so strongly supports idea about significance of infant social behaviour in eliciting caregiving.
  63. 63Who proposed the learning theory of attachment?Dollard & Miller (1950)
  64. 64Which approach is the learning theory based on?Behaviourist approach - emphasises role of learning in acquiring behaviour
  65. 65How is classical conditioning involved in learning theory?UCS = food
    UCR = happy baby having been fed
    NS = caregiver
    Caregiver provides baby with food multiple times so baby learns to associate caregiver with food and this is how an attachment is formed
    CS = caregiver
    CR = happy baby having been fed
  66. 66How is operant conditioning involved in learning theory?Two-way process:
    Baby cries; caregiver provides comfort (e.g. feeding); crying is positively reinforced as baby gets what it wants.
    Caregiver receives negative reinforcement as they are escaping something unpleasant (crying) by providing comfort.
  67. 67How are primary and secondary drives involved in learning theory?Hunger = primary drive as it is an innate biological motivator; we eat to reduce this drive
    Attachment = secondary drive as it is learned by association between caregiver and satisfaction of primary drive
    Sears et al. (1957) suggested that as caregivers provide food, primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them
  68. 68Evaluate: Learning theory (1950)1. Counter-evidence from animal research: Harlow (1959)
    2. Counter-evidence from human research: Schaffer & Emerson (1964)
    3. Ignores other factors
    4. Newer learning theory explanation: Hay & Vespo (1988)
  69. 69Evaluate: Learning theory (1950) 1. Counter-evidence from animal research: Harlow (1959)Found that rhesus monkeys who were raised by 2 artificial mothers (wire/food, cloth/comfort) spent most time with soft, cloth-covered mother, suggesting attachments are based of contact comfort and not food. Undermines learning theory which suggest babies form attachments for food only. Also: Lorenz's geese imprinted before being fed, and maintained these attachments regardless of who fed them.
    One of the basic assumptions of the behaviourist approach is that humans and other animals are equivalent.
  70. 70Evaluate: Learning theory (1950) 2. Conter-evidence from human research: Schaffer & Emerson (1964)Shows that food does not appear to be primary factor involved with developing attachments. Found that many babies formed primary attachment with biological mother even if a different carer did most of the feeding. Again show that attachment isn't based on food, and suggests there is no primary drive or unconditioned stimulus involved.
  71. 71Evaluate: Learning theory (1950) 3. Ignores other factorsResearch into early stages of attachment suggests that quality of attachment is associated with factors such as reciprocity and interactional synchrony (Isabella et al., 1989). Also show that sensitive responsiveness is important. Issue: if an attachment was formed purely through conditioning and association of cgv and food, there would be no purpose for these complex interactions and we would not expect to find a correlation between them and quality of attachment.
  72. 72Evaluate: Learning theory (1950) 4. Newer learning theory explanation: Hay and Vespo (1988)Based on social learning theory. Based on idea that social behaviour is acquired largely due to modelling and imitation of behaviour. Suggest that parents teach children to love them by modelling attachment behaviours, such as hugging them and other family members, and rewarding them with approval when they display attachment behaviour of their own. This overcomes some of the issues the early learning theory faces, as it takes into account factors other than food, so maybe should be considered as a valid explanation.
  73. 73What are animal studies?Studies carried out on non-human animal species rather than on humans, either for ethical or practical reasons (e.g. animals breed faster than humans so results can be seen across generations much faster)
  74. 74Who investigated imprinting?Lorenz (1935)
  75. 75What is imprinting?Phenomenon whereby bird species that are mobile from birth attach to and follow the first moving object they see
  76. 76Lorenz (1935): ProcedureClassic experiment: randomly divided clutch of goose eggs.
    Half hatched with mother goose in a natural environment, other half in an incubator where first moving object they saw was Lorenz.
  77. 77Lorenz (1935): Findings- Incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere
    - Control group followed mother
    - When both groups were mixed up, control group continued to follow mother and incubator group continued to follow Lorenz
  78. 78What length of time did Lorenz identify as the critical period for birds?Depending on species, as brief as a few hours - if imprinting did not occur in this time then the chicks did not attach to a mother figure
  79. 79What other type of imprinting did Lorenz investigate?Sexual imprinting - relationship between imprinting and adult mate preferences
  80. 80Examples of sexual imprinting- Birds that imprinted on a human would later show courtship behaviour towards humans
    - In a case study: peacock reared in the reptile house of a zoo where the first moving objects it saw were giant tortoises; as an adult, this bird would only show courtship behaviour towards giant tortoises
  81. 81Evaluate: Lorenz (1935)1. Generalisability to humans
    2. Some of his conclusions have been questioned
  82. 82Evaluate: Lorenz (1935) 1. Generalisability to humansAlthough some of his findings have influenced our understanding of human development, there is an issue generalising. Mammalian attachment system may be very different than in birds - e.g. mammalian mothers tend to show more emotional attachments to young than birds, and mammals may be able to form attachments at any time, even if it is more difficult than during infancy. Not appropriate to try to generalise any of his findings to humans.
  83. 83Evaluate: Lorenz (1935) 2. Some of his conclusions have been questionedLater researchers have questioned, e.g. idea that imprinting has a permanent effect on mating behaviour. Guiton et al. (1966) found that chickens imprinted on yellow washing up gloves would try to mate with them as adults (as Lorenz would predict), but with experiences they eventually learned to prefer mating with other chickens. Suggests that impact of imprinting on mating behaviour is not as permanent as Lorenz believed.
  84. 84Who investigated attachment in rhesus monkeys?Harlow (1959)
  85. 85What did Harlow initially observed?That new-borns kept alone in a bare cage usually died, but when given something soft to cuddle, usually survived
  86. 86Harlow (1959): ProcedureTested idea that a soft object serves some of the functions of a mother
    Reared 16 baby monkey with two wire mothers
    In one condition, food was dispensed by the wire mother, and in the other it was dispensed by the cloth mother
  87. 87Harlow (1959): FindingsBaby monkeys cuddled the soft object in preference and sought comfort form it regardless of which one dispensed milk
    Showed that 'contact comfort' is of more importance than food regarding attachment behaviour
  88. 88What length of time did Harlow identify for rhesus monkeys?Mother figure had to be introduced to baby within 90 days for an attachment to form
    After this, attachment was impossible and normal development could not occur
  89. 89What did Lorenz find with the adult behaviours of the monkeys?They had been maternally survived - did not develop normal social behaviour; those reared with wire mothers were the most dysfunctional
    1. More aggressive and less sociable than other monkeys
    2. Bred less often than is typical for monkeys as unskilled at mating
    3. As mothers, many neglected young and some attacked them, even killing them in some cases
  90. 90Evaluate: Harlow (1959)1. Theoretical value
    2. Practical value
    3. Ethical issues
  91. 91Evaluate: Harlow (1959) 1. Theoretical valueFindings have had profound effect on psychologists' understanding of human mother-infant attachment. Most importantly showed that attachment doesn't develop as a result of being fed by mother figure but due to contact comfort. Also showed importance of quality of early relationships for later social development, e.g. ability to hold down adult relationships and ability to raise children.
  92. 92Evaluate: Harlow (1959) 2. Practical valueImportant applications in many contexts. E.g. has helped social workers understand risk factors in child neglect and abuse and so intervene to prevent it (Howe 1998). Also important in care of captive monkeys as we now understand importance of proper attachment figures for young monkeys in zoos and in breeding programmes in wild.
  93. 93Evaluate: Harlow (1959) 3. Ethical issuesSeverely criticised for ethics. Monkey suffered greatly at his hands. Species is generally considered similar enough to humans to generalise findings, which also suggests their suffering was human-like. Harlow was aware of suffering he caused. On the other hand, it could be argued that his research was significantly important to justify this suffering.
  94. 94Generalisability of Lorenz vs Harlow- Difficult to generalise geese to human infants as humans don't just follow first moving object they see; arguably form attachments for more complex reasons
    - Greater for Harlow than Lorenz as monkeys are genetically closer to humans than geese are, but psychologists still question extent to which we can generalise
  95. 95Lorenz: support or counter Bowlby?Support - idea that attachments are evolutionary and children are born with an adaptive advantage to form them
  96. 96Lorenz: support or counter Learning theory?Counter - geese imprinted from birth; some behaviours are not result of conditioning but an innate biological mechanism
  97. 97Harlow: support or counter Bowlby?Counter - goes against idea that attachments are formed for survival reasons and are instead formed on basis of contact comfort
  98. 98Harlow: support of counter Learning theory?Counter - attachment formed based on contact comfort not food
  99. 99Evaluate: Animal studies of attachment overall1. May not apply to humans
    2. Humans and monkeys not that different
    3. Unethical research
  100. 100Evaluate: Animal studies of attachment overall 1. May not apply to humansSome argue that it is unlikely that goslings following a researcher (Lorenz) or rhesus monkeys clinging to cloth-covered wire mothers (Harlow) reflect the emotional connections and interactions that characterise human attachments. May therefore be unable to generalise, so limited applications of such findings.
  101. 101Evaluate: Animal studies of attachment overall 2. Humans and monkeys not that differentGreen (1994) says that on a biological level at least, all mammals (inc. rhesus monkeys) have same brain structure as humans. Findings of Harlow may therefore provide some insight into human behaviour due to similarity of monkeys and humans in a physiological sense.
  102. 102Evaluate: Animal studies of attachment overall 3. Unethical researchCould be argued that animals have a right not to be used for research or harmed - Lorenz's geese not born/raised in a natural environment; monkeys raised in Harlow's experiment all displayed dysfunctional behaviour in later life; mothers often hurt young. Therefore this research is unethical which makes the purpose/integrity of animal research questionable.
  103. 103What is Ainsworth's Strange Situation (1969)?Way of assessing security of attachment a child displays towards a caregiver
  104. 104Strange Situation: Procedure100 American infants
    Controlled observation
    Lab (unfamiliar play room but controlled conditions) with a two-way mirror
    Seven stages, each lasting around 3 minutes
  105. 105What are the 5 attachment behaviours used to determine security of an attachment?1. Proximity seeking
    2. Exploration/secure-base behaviour
    3. Stranger anxiety
    4. Separation anxiety
    5. Response to reunion
  106. 106What is stranger anxiety?Displaying unease/anxiety when a stranger approaches
  107. 107What is separation anxiety?Protest at separation from caregiver
  108. 108What is response on reunion?How the child reacts to caregiver when they return after separation for a short period of time
  109. 109What are the 7 stages of the Strange Situation and what attachment behaviours do they each test?1. Infant encouraged to explore - secure-base behaviour
    2. Stranger enters and tried to interact with infant - stranger anxiety
    3. Cgv leaves - separation and stranger anxiety
    4. Cgv returns and stranger leaves - response on reunion and secure-base
    5. Cgv leaves infant alone - separation anxiety
    6. Stranger returns - stranger anxiety
    7. Cgv returns/reunited with infant - response on reunion
  110. 110What are the three attachment types identified in the Strange Situation?Secure attachment (type B)
    Insecure-avoidant (type A)
    Insecure-resistant (type C)
  111. 111What characterises a secure attachment in the Strange Situation?Moderate stranger and separation anxiety
    Ease of comfort/accept and require comfort on reunion
    Explores but regularly returns to cgv
    [Associated with psychologically healthy outcomes]
  112. 112In Ainsworth's sample, what proportion had secure attachments?66%
  113. 113What characterises an insecure-avoidant attachment in the Strange Situation?Weak attachment:
    Low stranger/separation anxiety
    Little response to reunion/do not require comfort (avoiding cgv)
    Explore freely but rarely/do not seek proximity or show secure-base behaviour
  114. 114In Ainsworth's sample, what proportion had insecure-avoidant attachments?22%
  115. 115What characterises and insecure-resistant attachment in the Strange Situation?Strong attachment:
    High stranger/separation anxiety
    Seeking greater proximity so less exploration
    Resistance to be comforted at reunion
  116. 116In Ainsworth's sample, what proportion had insecure-resistant attachments?12%
  117. 117Evaluate: Ainsworth's Strange Situation1. Good reliability
    2. Overt observation
    3. May be culture-bound
    4. Support for validity
    5. At least one more attachment type
  118. 118Evaluate: Ainsworth's Strange Situation 1. Good reliabilityGood inter-rater reliability due to controlled conditions - different observers watching same children generally agree on what attachment type to classify them as; and behavioural categories are easy to observe. Bick et al. (2012) looked at inter-rater reliability and found agreement on attachment type for 94% of babies. Means it is replicable and we can be confident that attachment type does not depend on who is observing the child.
  119. 119Evaluate: Ainsworth's Strange Situation 2. Overt observationMothers knew they were being watched so could have changed their behaviour to appear like better parents (demand characteristics) which could influence how the infant responds. This matters because infant's behaviours might not be an accurate representation of their behaviour in the real-world which could mean that classifications of attachment are inaccurate. Lacks internal validity.
  120. 120Evaluate: Ainsworth's Strange Situation 3. May be culture boundDoes not have same meaning in countries outside USA and Western Europe. Cultural differences in child-rearing practices and childhood experiences affect how the infant responds in the strange situation; cgvs from different cultures behave differently. Takahashi (1990) noted that the test doesn't really work in Japan as Japanese mothers are rarely separated from their babies so there would be high levels of separation anxiety. In reunion stage, mothers rushed to pick up babies, so infant's response was hard to observe. Means the strange situation cannot be used globally and may need to be altered depending on the country to take into account cultural differences.
  121. 121Evaluate: Ainsworth's Strange Situation 4. Support for validityAttachment type defined by strange situation is strongly predictive of later development. Babies assessed as secure typically go onto have better outcomes in many areas e.g. success at school, friendships, adult romantic relationships. Insecure-resistant is associated with worst outcomes, such as bullying (Kokkinos, 2007), and adult mental health disorders (Ward et al., 2006). Evidence for validity of concept as it can explain consequent outcomes.
  122. 122Evaluate: Ainsworth's Strange Situation 5. At least one more attachment typeMain & Solomon (1986) pointed out that a minority of children display atypical attachments that do not fall into any of the categories identified by Ainsworth. This is commonly known as disorganised attachment - displaying a mix of avoidant and resistant behaviours.
  123. 123What are cultural variations?Difference in norms and values that exist between groups of people
  124. 124Who investigated cultural variations in attachment?Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988)
  125. 125Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988): ProcdureCarried out a meta-analysis of 32 studies of attachment where the strange situation had been used to look at proportions of the different attachment types in different countries
    Studies covered 8 countries
    15 had been in USA
    Results for 1,990 children
    Results combined and weighted for sample size
  126. 126What is a meta-analysis?'Research about research'
    Refers to process of combining results from a number of different studies on a particular topic to provide an overall view
  127. 127Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988): Findings- Secure attachment most common, but ranged from 75% in GB to 50% in China
    - Insecure-resistant least common; 3% in GB to 30% in Israel (also common in Japan)
    - Insecure-avoidant most common in Germany (35%), least common in Japan (approx. 5%)
  128. 128Variations within countries were ______ times greater than between countries1.5 times
    [E.g. one US study found 46% secure attachment; another found 90%]
  129. 1292 other studies of cultural variations in attachmentItalian - Simonella et al. (2014) to see if proportions of different attachment types still match previous studies
    Korean - Jin et al. (2012) to compare proportions of attachment types in Korea to other studies
  130. 130Simonella et al. (2014) studyAssessed 76 12-month olds using the Strange Situation
    50% secure and 36% insecure-avoidant
    Lower rate of secure than in other studies
  131. 131According to Simonella, why was there a lower rate of secure attachments in Italy?Increasing number of mothers of very young children work long hours an use professional childcare - cultural changes over time have a significant impact
  132. 132Jin et al. (2012) study87 children assessed using Strange Situation
    Overall proportions similar; secure still most common
    More of those classified as insecure were resistant (only 1 avoidant) - similar to Japan; could be related to child-rearing styles
  133. 133What can be concluded from these studies of variations in attachment?1. Secure is the norm - supports Bowlby in that attachment is innate and universal
    2. Cultural practices have an influence on attachment type
  134. 134Evaluate: Cultural variations in attachment1. Large samples
    2. Samples unrepresentative of culture
    3. Method of assessment is biased
    4. Alternative explanation for cultural similarity
  135. 135Evaluate: Cultural variations in attachment 1. Large samplesDue to combining results from different studies. I&K's study accounted for nearly 2,000 children. Other studies like Simonella and Jin had large comparison groups from previous studies although their own samples were smaller. Increases internal validity by reducing impact of anomalous results (e.g. from bad methodology or unusual Ps)
  136. 136Evaluate: Cultural variations in attachment 2. Samples unrepresentative of cultureComparisons were actually between countries not cultures. Within a country there are many different cultures and child-rearing practices, so one sample might over-represent a single culture in a country. E.g. one might over-represent poverty which can be stressful and may affect patterns of attachment. Ijzendoorn & Sagi (2001) analysis found that attachment types in Japan in an urban setting were similar to those in Western Europe, vs a more rural sample had an over-representation of insecure-resistant individuals. Means that comparisons between countries have little meaning so particular cultural characteristics of a sample must be specified.
  137. 137Evaluate: Cultural variations in attachment 3. Method of assessment is biasedSS designed by American psychologist (Ainsworth) and based on a British theory (Bowlby). Questionable whether Anglo-American theories can be applied to other countries - using them in other countries that it is not designed for is an example of imposed etic. E.g. Germany - lack of separation anxiety and lack of joy on reunion would indicate an insecure attachment in the Strange Situation but would be seen as independence rather than avoidance in this social context. Collectivist vs individualistic cultures. Could lead to labelling from a western point of view.
  138. 138What is etic?Cultural universals
  139. 139What is emic?Cultural uniqueness
  140. 140What is an individualist culture?One where personal achievement and independence is encouraged
  141. 141What is a collectivist culture?One that emphasises importance of family and shared goals above individual needs
  142. 142Evaluate: Cultural variations in attachment 4. Alternative explanation of cultural similarityIjzendoorn & Kroonenberg proposed alternative to Bowlby's idea that attachment is innate/universal so produces same sort of behaviours globally. They suggest that small cross-cultural differences may reflect effects of mass media, where a large number of books/TV programmes that 'advocate similar notions of parenting' are broadcast across countries.
  143. 143What is maternal deprivation?The emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and their mother/mother-substitute. Bowlby said that continuous care from a mother is essential for normal psychological development.
  144. 144What is separation?The child not being in the presence of the attachment figure
  145. 145What is deprivation?Extended periods of separation so the child loses an element of the mother's care/attachment bond is formed but broken later in life
  146. 146What are the 3 behaviours shown (in order) by children who have been separated from their primary attachment figure?Protest
    Despair
    Detachment
  147. 147What is privation?Where the child does not form any attachment at all
  148. 148Recap: what is the critical period for human babies and what are the consequences of separation/deprivation during this time?30 months (or 2.5 years)
    If prolonged separation/deprivation of care occurred during this time, psychological damage is inevitable
  149. 149Effects on intellectual development- Delayed development characterised by low IQ
    - Shown by Goldfarb (1947) who found lower IQ in those who remained in institutions compared to those who were fostered so had better emotional care
  150. 150Effects on emotional development- Bowlby identified affectionless psychopathy as the inability to experience guilt or strong emotions for others; lack remorse for their actions as they can't appreciate feelings of victims
    - Prevents someone forming normal relationships
    - Associated with criminality
  151. 151What was the aim of Bowlby's 44 thieves study?Examining link between affectionless psychopathy and maternal deprivation
  152. 152What type of experiment was Bowlby's 44 thieves study?Quasi experiment
  153. 153Bowlby's 44 thieves study: Procedure- Sample of 44 criminal teens accused of theft
    - All interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy
    - Families interviewed to establish whether the thieves had experienced prolonged early separations from mothers
    - Control group: non-criminal but emotionally disturbed young people (to see how often maternal deprivation occurred in those who weren't thieves)
  154. 154What are 3 signs of affectionless psychopathy?Lack of affection
    Lack of guilt for actions
    Lack of empathy for victims
  155. 155Bowlby's 44 thieves study: Findings- 14 of the 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopaths
    - Of this 14, 12 had experienced prolonged separation in first 2 years of their lives
    - 5 of remaining 30 thieves had experienced separations
    - Only 2 of 44 in control group had experienced long separations
  156. 156What did Bowlby conclude from his results?Prolonged early separation or deprivation caused affectionless psychopathy
  157. 157Evaluate: 44 thieves study1. Experiment only correlational
    2. Poor evidence
    3. Critical period more of a sensitive period
    4. Animal studies show impact of maternal deprivation
    5. Distinguishing between deprivation and privation
  158. 158Evaluate: 44 thieves study 1. Experiment only correlationalResults only show a relationship between maternal deprivation in early childhood and affectionless psychopathy. Unable to conclude that this is the cause. Also: counter-evidence by Lewis (1954); replicated study on a larger scale with 500 young people but found that a history of prolonged early separation did not predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships. Suggests that other factors influence outcome of early maternal deprivation.
  159. 159Evaluate: 44 thieves study 2. Poor evidenceInterviewer bias/investigator effects - Bowlby conducted interviews himself, fully knowing what he hoped to find and these expectations may have affected the respondents behaviour. Retrospective data collection - families may have wrongly accounted their early childhood. Other studies like Goldfarb on war orphans are also flawed as the children were deprived of more aspects of care than just maternal care, and were often traumatised; these other factors could have caused the later developmental difficulties not just maternal deprivation. Cannot rely on evidence; more research needed.
  160. 160Evaluate: 44 thieves study 3. Critical period more of a sensitive periodMore recent research has shown that psychological damage is not inevitable. Koluchova (1976) reported case of Czech twin boys who were isolated between ages of 18 months and 7 years by their step-mother - maternally deprived; when cared from by two loving adults later, seemed to recover fully. Period identified by Bowlby is sensitive but not critical, as while it may take longer to fully develop psychologically, it is not impossible.
  161. 161Evaluate: 44 thieves study 4. Animal studies show impact of maternal deprivationHarlow (1959) and rhesus monkeys - dysfunctional adults. Levy et al. (2003) showed that separating baby rats from mother as young as a day old had permanent effects on social development, but not other aspects of development. Generalisability?
  162. 162Evaluate: 44 thieves study 5. Distinguishing between deprivation and privationRutter (1981) claimed that when Bowlby talked of 'deprivation' he was confusing the two concepts of deprivation (forming attachment then breaking it) and privation (never forming an attachment). He said that the severe long-term damage that Bowlby associated with deprivation was more likely to be result of privation.
  163. 163What is institutionalisation?A term for the effects of living in an institutional setting - in this case a place where children live for long, continuous periods of time, often with little emotional care
  164. 164Who carried out the English and Romanian adoptee study?Rutter et al. (2011)
  165. 165Background of RomaniaDictator required Romanian women to have 5 children each - often could not afford care so ended up in huge orphanages in very poor conditions
  166. 166Rutter's ERA study: Procedure- Followed group of 165 Romanian orphans adopted in Britain
    - Tested to what extent good care could make up for poor early experiences
    - Physical, cognitive and emotional development assessed at ages 4, 6, 11 and 15
    - Control group: 52 British children adopted around the same time
  167. 167Rutter's ERA study: FindingsInitially: half showed signs of delayed intellectual development and majority were severely undernourished
    At age 11 they showed different rates of recovery which remained at age 16, depending on age at which they were adopted:
    - Before 6 months: mean IQ = 102
    - 6 months to 2 years = 86
    - After 2 years = 77
  168. 168Bucharest early intervention project: Procedure- Zeanah et al. (2005) assessed attachment (using Strange Situation) in 95 children aged 12-31 months who had spent an average of 90% of their lives in institutional care
    - Compared to control group of 50 who had never lived in an institution
    - Carers were asked about unusual social behaviour: being clingy, attention-seeking
  169. 169Bucharest early intervention project: Findings- 74% of control group were securely attached vs 19% of institutionalised group
    - 65% disorganised
    - Description of disinhibited attachment applied to 44% vs less than 20% in control group
  170. 1702 effects of institutionalisationDisinhibited attachment
    Mental retardation
  171. 171What is disinhibited attachment?Being equally friendly towards strangers and familiar people
    Rutter explained this as an adaptation to living with multiple caregivers (up to 50) during sensitive period
  172. 172What is mental retardation?Characterised by low IQ and lacking in skills needed for everyday activities; slower learning
    In ERA study: most showed signs when first arrived in Britain but those adopted before 6 months caught up with control group by age 4 - mental retardation can be recovered
  173. 173Evaluate: ERA study (2011)1. Real-life applications
    2. Fewer extraneous variables than other orphan studies
    3. Romanian orphanages not typical
    4. Methodological issues
    5. Long-term effects not yet clear
  174. 174Evaluate: ERA study (2011) 1. Real-life applicationsStudies have enhanced understanding of the effects of institutionalisation which has led to improvements in the way children are cared for in institutions. E.g. now avoid having multiple caregivers for one child; instead a few key workers who play a central role. Allows children to make attachments/avoid disinhibited attachments. Shows how valuable this research is.
  175. 175Evaluate: ERA study (2011) 2. Fewer extranseous variables than other orphan studiesPrevious studies involved children who had experienced loss/trauma (e.g. bereavement, neglect) before being institutionalised. Thus it was difficult to observe the effects of institutionalisation in isolation due to confounding participant variables. Romanian orphan studies don't have these confounding variables as they had been there for large majority of their lives. Higher internal validity.
  176. 176Evaluate: ERA study (2011) 3. Romanian orphanages not typicalPossible that conditions were so bad that results cannot be applied to understanding the impacts of better quality institutional care. For example, there were particularly poor standards in Romania in terms of forming attachments and a lack of intellectual stimulation. Unusual situational variables mean it may lack generalisability.
  177. 177Evaluate: ERA study (2011) 4. Methodological issuesChildren were not randomly assigned to conditions. Researchers did not interfere with the adoption process, which means that, e.g. the children adopted early may have been the more sociable ones - confounding variable. To control for these variables, other projects, such as the Bucharest Early Intervention project randomly allocated orphans to institutional care or fostering. This methodology is better as it removes confounding variable of which children are chosen by families to adopt, but raises ethical issues. This issue with methodology could mean that Rutter's findings are not accurate or have little meaning regarding effects of institutionalisation.
  178. 178Evaluate: ERA study (2011) 5. Long-term effects not yet clearFollowed up orphans into their teens and found some lasting effects of earlier experiences, particularly in those who were adopted later. This is too soon to say with certainty whether children suffered short-term or long-term effects. E.g. it may be that children adopted at a later age currently lagging behind in intellectual development eventually catch up as adults; those adopted earlier who seem to have no issues at the moment, may suffer emotional issues as adults. Cannot therefore conclude that institutionalisation as life-long impacts.
  179. 179What is the influence of early attachment on relationships in later childhood?Attachment type is associated with quality of peer relationships
    Securely attached infants tend to have the best quality; insecurely attached infants tend to have friendship difficulties
  180. 180Example of a study relating to influence of early attachment on relationships in later childhoodMyron-Wilson & Smith (1998) assessed children aged 7-11 in London using standard questionnaires. Found that bullying can be predicted by attachment type: insecure-avoidant most likely to be victims; insecure-resistant most likely to be bullies; secure unlikely to be involved
  181. 181What is the influence of early attachment on romantic relationships in adulthood?McCarthy (1999) studied 40 adult women who had been assessed as infants to determine attachment type. Secure = best adult friendships/romantic relationships; insecure-avoidant = intimacy issues; insecure-resistant = problems maintaining relationships
  182. 182Hazan & Shaver (1987) Love QuizAssessed:
    - Current/most important relationship
    - General love experiences e.g. number of partners
    - Choosing which of three statements best described their feelings
  183. 183What did Hazan & Shaver (1987) find?56% secure, 25% avoidant, 19% resistant
    Avoidant tended to have jealousy and fear of intimacy
    Suggests that patterns of attachment are reflected in romantic relationships
  184. 184What is the influence of early attachment on parenting in adulthood?People tend to base their parenting style on their internal working model
    Attachment type tends to be passed down through generations
  185. 185Example of a study relating to influence of early attachment on parenting in adulthoodBailey et al. (2007): studied 99 mothers assessing mother-baby attachment (Strange Situation) and mother-mother attachment (adult attachment interview).
    Majority had same attachment to child and mother.
  186. 186Evaluate: Influence of early attachment on later relationships1. Mixed evidence on continuity of attachment
    2. Most studies have validity issues
    3. Association does not mean causality
    4. Self report is conscious, internal working model is not
  187. 187Evaluate: Influence of early attachment on later relationships 1. Mixed evidence on continuity of attachmentSome studies (e.g. McCarthy and Bailey et al.) support internal working model. Others do not: Zimmerman assessed infant attachment type and adolescent attachment to parents and found very little relationship. This is not what we would expect to find if internal working model was important in development. This questions the significance of the internal working model.
  188. 188Evaluate: Influence of early attachment on later relationships 2. Most studies have validity issuesMany don't use Strange Situation but self-report techniques instead like interviews and questionnaires. Validity is limited as it depends on Ps being honest and having a realistic view of their relationships (could produce demand characteristics). Retrospective data collection is also an issue as it could be less accurate. No way of knowing if people are telling truth or remembering correctly.
  189. 189Evaluate: Influence of early attachment on later relationships 3. Association does not mean causalityFindings of studies often imply that infant attachment type causes the attachments a person has in later life. However, this is actually only a correlation, and other factors, like parenting style and child's temperament (inherent part of their character that can be shaped but not changed) influence attachment. This counters Bowlby's idea of the internal working model and is an issue as researchers are claiming to have found a cause where there is only an association.
  190. 190Evaluate: Influence of early attachment on later relationships 4. Self report is conscious; internal working model is notTheoretical problem: internal working models are unconscious and we are not directly aware of their influence. Direct evidence cannot be obtained about it using interviews etc as self report techniques can only self-report what people are aware of. When asked about relationships Ps are only relying on conscious understanding of these relationships. At best, self report gives us indirect evidence about internal working models - potentially limits research into this concept

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A level Psychology (Year 1 topics) Flashcards on Attachment, created by Amy Warrell on 12/05/2018.
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