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Flashcards

Attachment

Freya Harris English 98 cards

Cards in this deck (98)

  1. 1Key Term: AttachmentA close two-way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual see the other as essential for their own emotional security.
  2. 2Key Term: ImprintingAn innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the mother which takes place during a specific time in development, probably in the first few hours after birth/hatching. If it doesn't happen at this time it probably will not happen.
  3. 3Lorenz's ResearchHe took goose eggs and divided them into two groups. One group he left with their natural mother and the others were put in an incubator. When the incubator eggs hatched, the first living and moving thing the goslings saw Lorenz and started following him around. He then placed the two groups together.
  4. 4Lorenz's FindingsThe incubator group showed no recognition of the natural mother, and had imprinted on Lorenz. He noted imprinting took place in a critical period. He found imprinting effected mate preferences - sexual imprinting. Animals try and mate with the object they imprinted on. Imprinting is irreversible and long lasting.
  5. 5Lorenz's Evaluation: GuitonFound that leghorn chicken exposed to yellow rubber gloves used for feeding them during the first few weeks imprinted on the gloves, and later tried to mate with them. But, he also found that he could reverse imprinting of the chickens, after they spent time with their own species, and were able to engage in normal sexual behaviour.
  6. 6Harlow's ResearchStudied 8 baby monkeys of 165 days. They were placed in a cage with 2 wire mothers with different heads. One was wrapped in soft cloth. For four of the wire monkeys, the milk bottle was placed on plain wire one, the other four placed on the cloth. The time spent on both was measured, and their reactions when scared.
  7. 7Harlow's Findings:All monkeys spent more time on the cloth, irrespective of where the bottle was. When the bottle was on the plain wire monkey, the monkey spent a short time on the wire to get milk, then returned to the cloth. When scared the monkeys clung to the cloth monkey. All of the monkeys developed abnormally - socially abnormal and fled or froze when approached by other monkeys. They didn't show normaly mating behaviour and didnt cradle their babies. Those who spent time with their 'peers' before age 3 months, seemed able to recover.
  8. 8Harlow's ConclusionsInfants do not attach to the person who feeds them, but to the person who offers them contact comfort. There is a critical period for attachment or there is long-term irreversible damage to social development due to maternal deprivation.
  9. 9Harlow's Evaluation: Schaffer and EmersonThey observed 60 babies from mainly working class homes in Glasgow for about a year. They found that infants were not most attached to the person who fed them, but the person who interacted with them the most.
  10. 10Little Albert:Before : loud noise (unconditioned stimulus) ---> upset baby (unconditioned response)
    During: rat (neutral stimulus) + loud noise
    ---> upset baby
    After: rat (conditioned stimulus) ---> upset baby (conditioned response)
  11. 11Behaviourism and Learning Theory:Behaviourists believe we are born as blank slates and all of our behaviour is learnt through experiences. They were only interested in studying observable behaviour, often studying animals, not in underlying thought process. Learning theory basically says that attachment is driven by being fed.
  12. 12Classical ConditioningFood produces a sense of pleasure. The feeder becomes associated with the food. The feeder then produces the pleasure associated with the food. The association between the feeder and sense of pleasure is the attachment bond.
  13. 13Operant Conditioning Dollard and Miller (1950)A hungry infant feels uncomfortable, and this creates a drive to reduce discomfort. When the infant is fed, this produces feeling of pleasure (a reward) and the drive is reduced. Food is the primary reinforcer. Person who supplies the food is associated with avoiding discomfort, and the secondary reinforcer. Attachment occurs as the infant seeks out the person who supplies the reward.
  14. 14Strengths of the Learning TheoryProvides adequate explanation for how attachments form. We do learn through association and reinforcement. Although evidence suggests that it is not an association or reinforcement through being fed, it is possible that the comfort provided by a carer provides reinforcement or association leading to an attachment bond.
  15. 15Weaknesses of the Learning TheoryEvidence is shown that feeding has nothing to do with attachment by Harlow. Schaffer and Emerson's study also challenges it. It is too 'reductionist' and reduces complex human behaviour to oversimplified ideas. It ignores other factors associated with the quality of attachment including developing reciprocity and good levels of interactional synchrony.
  16. 16Bowlby's Theory of AttachmentHe said humans as being just like other animals - we have an innate tendency to form attachments with a caregiver. His material deprivation hypothesis (1951): a young child should experience a warm, intimate, continuous relationship with his/her mother or mother substitute, those deprived of this might suffer permanent long term emotional maladjustment.
  17. 17MonotropyBowlby believed that infants form a primary attachment towards one individual (usually their mother). This special intense attachment is called Monotropy. He believed infants form a primary attachment to the person who responds most sensitively to them (sensitivity hypothesis). Secondary attachments form a hierarchy of attachments.
  18. 18AdaptiveAttachments are adaptive and innate. This means they give our species an 'adaptive advantage', making us more likely to survive. This is because if an infant has an attachment to a caregiver, they are kept safe, given food and kept warm.
  19. 19Social ReleasersBabies have social releasers, which 'unlock' the innate tendency of adults to care for them. These social releasers are both physical - the typical 'baby face' features and body proportions; and behavioural e.g. crying, cooing, smiling.
  20. 20Secure BaseAttachment important for protection - acts as secure base from which to explore the world. Attachment fosters independence.
  21. 21International Working ModelThrough the monotropic attachment, the infant forms an internal working model. This is a special mental schema for relationships. All the child's future adult relationships will be based on this.
  22. 22Continuity HypothesisThe internal working model means there is a consistency between early emotional experiences and later relationships. This continuity hypothesis means that securely attached infants continue to be socially competent; insecurely attached infants have later social and emotional difficulties.
  23. 23Critical PeriodBabies have to form the attachment with their caregiver during a critical period. In his 1951 maternal deprivation hypothesis he said this was within the first 2.5 years. In his monotropic theory (1969) he said that was about 2 years with a 3-6 months old believed to be especially important. Bowlby said that if this didn't happen, the child could be damaged for life - socially, emotionally, intellectually and physically.
  24. 24Bowlby Monotropic Theory Evaluation: Rutter et al (2011)Studied 100 Romanian orphans at 4, 6 and 11 years old who had been brought over to Britain to be adopted. Found that at age 11 children adopted to good families before 6 months old showed normal emotional development. Many children adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment (overly friendly to strangers and attention seeking) and had problems with peers. This supports the continuity hypothesis and critical period.
  25. 25Bowlby Monotropic Theory Evaluation: Sensitive PeriodEvidence now suggests that a 'sensitive' period rather than a 'critical' period in which to attach would be more accurate. There is evidence that there is a period where a child is more likely to attach but it is possible, if less likely, outside this window.
  26. 26Key Term: ReciprocityReciprocity is responding to the action of another with an action where the actions of one partner elicit s response from the other partner. The responses are not necessarily similar as in interactional synchrony.
  27. 27ReciprocityThe infant produces innate signals from birth (crying, smiling or sucking) that bring others to his/her side and the infant is comforted by these interactions. From birth babies move in a rhythm when interacting with an adult as if they were taking turns, as people do when having a conversation. The regularity of an infants signals allows a caregiver to anticipate the infants behaviour and respond appropriately. The level of sensitivity to the infants behaviour lays the foundations for later attachment between he caregiver and infant.
  28. 28Reciprocity: Brazelton (1979)Brazelton suggests that this basic rhythm is an important precursor to later communications. Brazelton et al (1975) describe the interaction as a "dance" as the infant and caregiver respond to each others moves.
  29. 29Reciprocity: Still faced experimentsThe importance of reciprocity in caregiver-infant interactions is demonstrated in Still Face Experiments. Infants: smile less, avert their gaze, heart rate changes in a way that indicates arousal, and some infants cry or fuss. Without reciprocity children can grow up to develop mental disorders and can effect relationships in later life.
  30. 30Reciprocity: Condon and Sander (1974)They noted how babies would co-ordinate their actions in time with adults speech, taking turns to contribute to the 'conversation'. They undertook a frame by frame analysis of films of babies movements to sound recordings of adult conversation. It was found that babies would move in time with the rhythm of the conversation, engaging in a subtle form on turn talking.
  31. 31Schaffer and Emerson (1964)They studies 60 babies (31 male 29 female) from skilled Glaswegian working class families. The mothers and babies were visited at home every month fir the first year and then at 18 months. The researchers asked the mother about the kind of protest shown by the babies in 7 types of everyday separation. They also measured the infants stranger anxiety. Found that 25-32 week old infants had formed an attachment towards the adult who was most interactive and sensitive to infants signals and facial expressions (reciprocity). This was not necessarily the person they spent most time with.
  32. 32Key Term: Interactional SynchronyWhen two people interact they tend to mirror what the other is doing in terms of their facial and body movements. This includes imitating emotions as well as behaviours. This is described as a synchrony - when two or more things move in the same patterns. It is similar to reciprocity but in this interaction, the infant mirrors adult behaviour.
  33. 33Meltzoff and Moore (1977)They conducted the first systematic study of interactional synchrony and found that infants as young as 2-3 weeks old imitated specific facial and hand gestures. An adult model displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions or hand-movements where fingers moved in a sequence. A dummy was placed in the infants mouth during the display to prevent a response. They dummy was then removed and the infants expression filmed. They found that there was an association between the behaviour of the adult model and infant.
  34. 34Melzoff and Moore (1983)In a follow up study, the demonstrated interactional synchrony in infants only 3 days old. This suggests it is a innate behaviour. Meltzoff and Moore also propose that the behaviour is intentional on the part of the infant, not just a learned response through operant conditioning. It is believed to be important in the development of attachment.
  35. 35Melzoff and Moore Evaluation: Isabella at al (1989)They observed 30 mothers and infants and assessed the degree of synchrony and the quality of mother-infant attachment. They found that levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachment. It shows that babies do mirror adults and it is an innate behaviour which doesn't have to be learnt.
  36. 36Melzoff and Moore EvaluationIn the study, the infants mirror any adult, not just the attachment figure. This means there is not cause and effect. It is also difficult to distinguish between general activity and specific imitated behaviour.
  37. 37Fathers as attachment figuresSchaffer and Emerson found that fathers are far less likely to be the primary attachment figure. Research has found that in 2-parent families where the father is the primary caregiver, both parents share the primary attachment figure (Frank et al). This suggests men can be primary attachment figures, but biological and social factors may discourage it. Frodi et al (1978) showed videos of infants crying and found no difference in physiological responses of men and women.
  38. 38Grossman (2002)He carried out a longitudinal study of parents behaviour and the quality of their children's attachment in their teens. Found quality of attachment to mother only was related to children's attachment in adolescence - suggests role of the father is less important. However, there was a relationship between the quality of fathers play
  39. 39Field (1978)Filmed four month old babies in face to face interactions with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers. Primary caregiver fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than the secondary caregiver fathers. This behaviour appears to be important in building attachments in infants. It appears then that fathers can be the nurturing figure - what is key to the level of responsiveness of the parent.
  40. 40Fathers as a secondary attachment figureSchaffer and Emerson found 75% of infants formed an attachment with their fathers by 18 months - suggesting he is an important SAF . Research has shown then to be more playful, physically active and better at providing challenging situations (Geiger 1996). A lack of sensitivity from fathers might be positive because it fosters problem-solving by making greater communicative and cognitive demands on children (White and Whoollet 1992). Some studies such as MacCallum and Golombok (2004) have found that children growing up in single or same sex parent families do not develop any differently than those in two-parents heterosexual families. This would seem to suggest that the role of the father as a secondary attachment figure is not important.
  41. 41Schaffer and Emerson (1964): Shaffer's stages of AttachmentThey demonstrated that children go through various stages of attachment.
  42. 42Stage One: 0 - 8 weeks AsocialVery young infants are asocial in that many kinds of stimuli, both social and non-social, produce a favorable reaction, such as a smile.
  43. 43Stage Two: 2 - 7 months Indiscriminate AttachmentInfants indiscriminately enjoy human company, and most babies respond equally to any caregiver. They get upset when an individual ceases to interact with them. From 3 months infants smile more at familiar faces and can be easily comfortable by a regular caregiver.
  44. 44Stage Three: 7 - 12 months Specific AttachmentSpecial preference for a single attachment figure. The baby looks to particular people for security, comfort, and protection. It shows fear of strangers (stranger fear) and unhappiness when separated from a special person (separation anxiety).
    Some babies show stranger fear and separation anxiety much more frequently and intensely than others, nevertheless, they are seen as evidence that the baby has formed an attachment. This has usually developed by one year of age.
  45. 45Stage Four: 1 year onwards Multiple AttachmentsThe baby becomes increasingly independent and forms several attachments. By 18 months the majority of infants have formed multiple attachments.
    The results of the study indicated that attachments were most likely to form with those who responded accurately to the baby's signals, not the person they spent more time with. Schaffer and Emerson called this sensitive responsiveness. Intensely attached infants had mothers who responded quickly to their demands and, interacted with their child. Infants who were weakly attached had mothers who failed to interact.
  46. 46Shaffer and Emerson EvaluationThe stages appear to be correct. Young infants appear to be able to be comforted by anyone as they get older they do display separation protest and stranger anxiety (Eysenck 2005). However, babies may not be asocial - infants show preference for mothers face within 24 hours of birth (Bushnell et al 1989)
  47. 47A Strange Situation: sequence of events1. parents and infants play.
    2. parent sits while the infant plays - use of parent as a secure base.
    3. stranger enters and talks to parent - stranger anxiety
    4. parent leaves, infant plays, stranger offers comfort if needed - separation anxiety
    5. parent returns, greets infant, offers comfort if needed, stranger leaves - reunion behaviour
    6. parent leaves, infant alone - separation anxiety
    7. stranger enters, offers comfort - stranger anxiety.
    8. parent returns, greets infant, offers comfort - reunion behaviour.
  48. 48A Strange SituationMiddle-class American 9-18 month old infants and their mothers. Controlled observation of mother and child during a set of pre-determined activities. Behaviour recorded every 15 seconds - time sampling.
    Observed: Separation anxiety (unease infants shows when left by caregiver), infants willingness to explore, stranger anxiety (the infants response to the presence of a stranger) and reunion behaviour (the way the caregiver was greeted on return.
  49. 49Type A: Avoidant insecure22% of infants in the experiment were classed as avoidant insecure. They had a high willingness to explore, low stranger anxiety, were not effected by separation from their caregiver and avoided contact with their caregiver when they returned.
  50. 50Type B: Secure Attachment66% of infants in the experiment were secure avoidant. Willingness to explore was high, stranger anxiety was high, separation anxiety was quite high, but easy to soothe, and they were enthusiastic when reuniting with their caregiver.
  51. 51Type C: Resistant Insecure12% of infants were resistant insecure. Their willingness to explore was low, stranger anxiety was high, separation anxiety was high and seeks and rejects the reunion.
  52. 52Evaluation of the Strange Situation MethodIt was efficient and easy to replicate, and it had high reliability. However it is measuring their attachment to the person they spent the most time with not necessarily their primary attachment figure. Some argue the method is culture bound and only applicable to Western Europe and USA where child bearing practices are similar.
  53. 53Evaluation of the Strange Situation: Main and Soloman (1986) Van Ijzendoom (1999)They reanalysed 200 strange situation tapes and concluded a 4th type - Insecure Disorganised: lack of consistent pattern of social behaviour. Show strong attachment, followed by avoidant, fearful behaviour. Van Ijzendoom (1999) found in their meta-analysis of nearly 80 US studies that 15% of the children were type D (insecure disorganised).
  54. 54Types of Attachment and the continuity hypothesisSecure attachment - generally positive. Less emotional dependence, higher achievement; interpersonal harmony.
    Avoidant attachment: aggressive in later life. Generally negative effect.
    Resistant attachment - associated with more anxiety, withdrawn behaviour.
    Disorganised attachment: linked to hostile and aggressive behaviour.
  55. 55Types of Attachment and maternal sensitivityAinsworth et al (1987) used their Maternal Sensitivity Scale and found it links to infant attachment. Secure avoidant: mother more sensitive, responsive and affectionate.
    Avoidant attachment: mothers more rejecting, paid less attention.
    Resistant attachment: Mothers tended to be occupied with routine activities when holding the infant.
  56. 56Types of Attachment and the continuity hypothesis: Hazan and Shaver (1987)They linked attachment type to adult romantic behaviour using a 'love quiz'. Secure adults: had positive relationships, trust others and believe in enduring love.
    Resistant adults: preoccupied by love, fall in love easily but have trouble finding true love. Avoidant adults: fearful of closeness, love is not durable and not necessary for happiness.
  57. 57Key Term: Cultural Variationthe ways that different groups of people vary in terms of social practices and the effects these practices have on development and behaviour.
  58. 58Key Term: Collectivist CulturesPlace more value on the group rather than the individual, and on interdependence rather than independence.
  59. 59Key Term: Individual Culturesvalues the importance of the individual and independent behaviour.
  60. 60Basic difference between cultures:Emphasis is on group effort and cooperation e.g. Japan. Emphasis is on personal achievement e.g. USA.
    Focus on interpersonal development of infant / focus on developing initiative in infants.
    More favourable reaction to obedience and social behaviour/ mothers react favourably to independence (USA).
    Less anti-social behaviour / more anti-social behaviour.
  61. 61Evidence of cross-cultural similarities and differences: Tronick et al (1992)studied the Efe tribe from Zaire, who lived in extended family groups. Infants are looked after, and even breastfed, by different women but usually sleep with the mother at night.
  62. 62Evidence of cross-cultural similarities and differences: Takahashi (1990)used strange situation with 60 middle class Japanese infants and mothers. Found similar rates of secure attachment as in US. But found no evidence of insecure-avoidant and high rates of insecure-resistant (32%). It can be changed by different child bearing practices (infants rarely separated from mother).
  63. 63Evidence of cross-cultural similarities and differences: Simonella et al (2014)studied 76 12 month old Italian infants using strange situation. Found 50% secure and 36% insecure avoidant. This is a lower rate of secure than found in many previous studies. The researcher suggests its because more mothers are working longer hours and employing professional childcare. The implication is that cultural changes can have a huge impact on levels of secure attachment.
  64. 64Van Ijzendoom and Kroonenburg (1998): ProcedureMeta-analysis of 32 attachment studies with 2000 strange situations in 8 countries. All of the selected studies had observed only mother-infant pairs (not fathers or other caregivers) and classified infants into 3 attachment types. They also excluded any studies that looked at children with special needs, any with less than 35 mother-infant pairs, and any using children over 2 years old. This was done to make them as similar as possible to reduce EVs. Altogether they looked at over 2000 stranger situations classified from 32 studies and 8 countries.
  65. 65Van Ijzendoon and Kroonenburg (1998): FindingsSecure attachment was the most common type of attachment across all 8 nations. Significant differences were found in the distribution of insecure attachments: Western dominant type was avoidant. Non-Westerm type was resistance. With the exception of China with a 50/50 split between both.
  66. 66Van Izendoon and Kroonenburg (1998): ConclusionsThe global pattern across cultures appears to be similar to that in the US. Secure attachment is the 'norm' - most common form of attachment. This supports the idea that secure attachment is the 'best' for healthy social and emotional development. Van Ijzendoon and Kroonenburg suggest that cross cultural similarities might be explained by the effects of mass media, which spreads ideas about parentling so that all children across the world are exposed to similar experiences.
  67. 67Van Izendoon and Kroonenburg (1998): EvaluationGot the expected results - secure attachment is still the norm in a range of countries - suggests cross-cultural research has construct validity. However the research may reflect the effects of globalisation and westernisation. A large sample of 2000 was used. However, it can be criticised for containing very little studies outside the US e.g. 18 studies were taken from the US compared to 1 from Sweden and 2 from Japan.
  68. 68Maternal DeprivationBowlby's earlier theory. He believed that continual nurturing from mother or mother-substitute is essential for healthy psychological development - both emotional and intellectually. He thought separate from the mother in early childhood had serious consequences. Deprivation is not the same as physical separation - you can be separated from your primary attachment figure but are only deprived if you don't receive emotional care.
  69. 69Key Term: Material DeprivationThe loss of emotional care that is normally provided by a primary caregiver (typically mother).
  70. 70Bowlby's Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis (1951)"Prolonged deprivation of a young child of maternal care may have grave and far-reaching effects on his character... similar in form... to deprivation of vitamins in infancy" Bowlby 1953. He saw the first 30 months as the critical period of psychological development. Deprivation of emotional care during this time would lead to psychological damage. Bowlby said if deprived or maternal care for too long it would result in damage to intellectual development. He said it would result in mental retardation as shown by abnormally low IQ. He said deprivation for too longer would damage emotional development - could lead to the inability to experience guilt or strong emotions towards others.
  71. 71Goldfarb (1955)Followed up an earlier 1947 study and studied 30 orphaned children to the age of 12. Half had been fostered at 4 months old, remainder stayed in the orphanage. At age 12, fostered children had an IQ of 96 (100 being average) and those in orphanage had an average of 68 - seen as having special needs.
  72. 72Bowlby's 44 thieves study (1944)Aim: to test the maternal deprivation hypothesis that is, to see whether frequent early separations were associated with a risk of behavioural disorders: in particular "affectionless psychopathy". Procedure: participants were 88 children ranging in age from 5 o 16 who had been referred to the child guidance clinic where Bowlby worked. 44 of the children had been referred to the clinic because of stealing. He identified 14 of these as affectionless psychopaths. the remaining 44 in the study had not committed crimes, and none were identified as affectionless psychopaths. He interviewed the children and their families to find out about their early life.
  73. 73Bowlby's 44 thieves study (1944): Results86% of those thieves diagnosed with affectionless psychopathy had experienced early and prolonged separations from their mothers. Only 17% of the other thieves had experienced such separations. 4% of the control group had experienced frequent early separation. These results suggest a link between early separation and later social and emotional maladjustment. In its most severe form it can lead to affectionless psychopathy. It its less severe it leads to anti-social behaviour. These findings support the maternal deprivation hypothesis,
  74. 74Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis EvaluationBowlby used his own experiment and orphans of World War II as evidence. This is an issue as war orphans are likely to be traumatic and had poor general care, so you can't be sure it was maternal deprivation that led to their intellectual difficulties. Bowlby's own experiment is bad evidence as the validity is questioned due to investigator bias.
  75. 75Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis Evaluation: Lewis (1954)replicated the 44 thieves study using 500 young people. Found that separation from the mother did not predict criminality or difficulty forming close relationships.
  76. 76Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis Evaluation: Rutter (1976)criticises Bowlby for failing to distinguish between privation and deprivation. Rutter believes the severe long-term damage identified by Bowlby is more likely to have been caused by privation. It is unclear in his study whether the children suffered from one or both.
  77. 77Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis Evaluation: Radke-Yarrow et al (1985)studied mothers who were severely depressed and found that 55% of their children were insecurely attached compared to 29% in the non-depressed group. This shows that psychological separation as well as physical separation can lead to deprivation.
  78. 78Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis Evaluation: Real Life applicationBefore his research children were separated from their parents when they spent time in the hospital. Robertson (1952) filmed a two year old girl, Laura, during an 8 day stay in hospital, she was frequently distressed and begged to go home.
  79. 79Key Term: PrivationFailure to form an attachment. This is where an attachment never occurred due to emotional privation e.g. an abusive situation or the child has been put in an institution at a very early age e.g. an orphanage.
  80. 80Key Term: InstitutionPatients live there (as opposed to day care where they can go back home every night)
  81. 81Key Term: Emotional PrivationIt is the lack of emotional care or love in a child who has been unable to form an attachment.
  82. 82Key Term: Physical PrivationIt is the lack of basic physical needs such as food and shelter.
  83. 83Effects of Institutional CareDeprivation dwarfism: children from institutions are usually physically small from a lack of emotional care. Gardener (1972) studied 8 month old girl who was never cuddled. She was physically stunted and withdrawn. With attention from hospital staff, she soon returned to normal with no change in diet. Emotional disturbances may affect the production of growth hormones. Poor emotional development including disinhibited attachment: a form of insecure attachment where children do not discriminate between people they choose as attachment figures. They are attention seeking and over friendly to strangers.
  84. 84Effects of Institutional CareIntellectually under-functioning: cognitive development is affected by emotional deprivation. Poor parenting: Harlow showed mothers "raised" by wire "mothers" went on to be bad parents. Quinton et al (1984) compared a group of 50 women in institutions wit a control group of women raised at home. 20% of the institutional group found it hard to parent.
  85. 85Rutter's English and Romanian Adoptee StudyRutter et al (2011) studied a group of 165 Romanian orphans brought over to Britain to be adopted and to see if good care could make up for poor early institutionalised care. Physical, emotional and cognitive tests were carried out at 4, 6, 11 and 15 years old. A group of 52 British children adopted around the same time acted as control group. On arrival in Britain half were severely malnourished and showed signs of mental retardation. At age 11 children adopted before 6 months old had an average IQ of 102, those adopted between 6 months and 2 years, had a mean IQ of 77. Many children adopted after 6 months showed disinhibited attachment.
  86. 86The Bucharest Early Intervention ProjectZeanah et al (2005) assessed attachment using the strange situation in 95 children aged 12-13 months who had spent most of their life in institutional care. They were compared to a control group of 50 children who had never been in institution. Careers were asked about unusual social behaviours including clingy, attention seeking behaviour directed inappropriately at adults. 74% of the control group were securely attached, compared to 19% of the institutional group with 65% being disorganised attachment. 44% of the institutional group had disinhibited attachment compared to 20% of the control group.
  87. 87Evaluation of Romanian Studies: Le Mare and Audet (2006)they did s longitudinal study of 36 Romanian orphans adopted to Canadian families. They measured physical growth and health. The adopted orphans were physically smaller compared to a matched compare group. The difference disappeared by 10.5 years old. The same was found for health. This suggest recovery is possible from the effects of institutional care on physically development. An issue with the studies is that even though they are longitudinal, the orphans were only followed up into their mid teens, so we don't know how it effected their later life.
  88. 88Evaluation of Rutter's ERA StudyNatural study - high in ecological validity. It uses a range of research methods making the research rich and detailed. Probably multiple risk factors, and we cannot be certain the children studied did not form attachments. Some children might of formed attachments due to receiving special treatment at the orphanage. Emotional privation was only one factor the orphans suffered - the physical conditions were appalling which impacted their health. It is unclear what caused later social and intellectual under-functioning and it is likely that damage is caused when there are multiple risk factors.
  89. 89Evaluation of Romanian Studies: Real Life ApplicationIn the past mothers who were giving away their babies were asked to nurse the baby for a significant period of time. By the time of adoption the sensitive period of attachment may had passed, making it difficult to make secure attachments. Babies are now adopted within the first week of birth and research shows that adoptive mothers and children are just asa securely attached as non-adoptive (Singer et al). There have been improvements made in the running of children's homes. They have reduced the numbers of staff and made sure a smaller number of people may a certain role with each child. The use of a key worker means children had a chance to develop normal attachments.
  90. 90Shaver at al (1988) (1)claimed that what we experience as romantic love in adulthood is an integration of three behavioural systems acquired in infancy - attachment, caregiver and sexual systems. The first system is related to the internal working model of relationships. The internal working model creates expectations about future relationships, described as the continuity hypothesis - people who are securely attached as infants will continue to form similar relationships throughout life.
  91. 91Shaver at al (1988) (2)The caregiving system is knowledge about how one cares for others, learned by modelling the behaviour of the primary attachment figure. The sexuality system is also learned in relation to early attachment, for example individuals who suffered from an avoidant attachment are more likely to hold the view that sex without love is pleasurable.
  92. 92Adult Relationships: Hazen and Shaver (1987) (1)There is support for the relationship between attachment style and later adult relationships. Hazen and Shaver published a love quiz in a north American paper. They tested two samples 1) 205 men and 415 women, aged 14082 randomly selected from the responses to the add. 2) 108 students with the mean age of 18. They asked about current attachment practices and about attachment history to identify current and childhood attachment types. They found a very strong attachment between childhood attachment type and adult attachment type, with Type Bs having relationships that lasted on average twice as long as insecurely attached individuals.
  93. 93Adult Relationships: Hazen and Shaver (1987) (2)They also found a positive correlation between attachment type and love experiences. Securely attached individuals described their love experiences as happy, friendly and trusting. Finally they found a relationship between the conception of love and attachment type. Securely attached felt love was enduring whereas insecure felt love was rare.
  94. 94Adult Relationships: Simpson et al (2007)followed 78 individuals from infancy to their early 20s. Those individuals who were securely attached were more socially competent in school and were more likely to have secure friendships at the age 16. In early adulthood these individuals were more expressive and emotionally attached to their romantic partners. Simpsons research was a longitudinal study spanning over more than 25 years. 78 participants were studied at four key points, and the caregivers reported on their children's attachments at one year of age.
  95. 95Adult Relationships: Fraley (1998)He conducted a meta-analysis of 27 studies, finding correlations from 0.10 to 0.50 between early attachment type and later relationships. Furthermore Zimmerman et al (2000) in his German sample found no link, with life events such as parents divorce or death having much more influence.
  96. 96Childhood relationships: The Minnesota parent-child project (1975)studied mother child pairs using questionnaires and observations. E.g. mother and children were filmed playing for 10-15 minutes at home. The mother was aware they were being filmed/observed. This study found continuity between early attachment and later emotional/social behaviour. Securely attached infants were later in childhood rated higher for social competence and were less isolated, more popular and empathetic. (Can use Rutter et al (2011) Romanian studies to evaluate as well)
  97. 97Parenting: HarlowHarlow found in later life his monkeys were abusive and had difficulty mating and parenting. Shows that contact comfort is preferred over food but not sufficient for healthy development.
  98. 98Implications for mental healthLack of attachment in childhoods critical period would result in a lack of an internal working model. Children with an attachment disorder have no preferred attachment figure, and inability to relate to others evident before the age of 5 and often have experienced severe neglect or a frequent change in care givers. This had now been recognised as a psychiatric disorder and listed in the DSM.

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Flashcards on Attachment , created by Freya Harris on 29/01/2018.
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