Flashcards
Influence of Early Attachments
Cards in this deck (9)
- 1Role of the Internal Working Model- Bowlby's concept of IWM is similar to a schema
- An infant learns what relationships are through experience: an "operable" model so behaviour can be predicted - 2Key Study Hazan and Shaver (1987)- Love quiz (US publication) asked about attachment experiences and history of attachment types
- 205 men, 415 women self-report found to be similar in adults as in infants (56% secure, 25% avoidant, 19% resistant)
- +ve correlation between attachment type and love experiences - 3Behaviours Influenced by the IWMChildhood friendships
- Minnesota child-parent study found continuity between early attachment and later emotional/social behaviour
- Infants classed as secure became the most competent later in childhood - 4Behaviours Influenced by the IWMPoor parenting
- Harlow's research demonstrated a link between poor attachment and later difficulties with parenting
- Lack of IWM = lack of a reference point to form later relationships - 5Behaviours Influenced by the IWMRomantic relationships
- "Love Quiz" demonstrated a link between early attachment type and later relationships
- Secure = longer lasting relationships - 6Behaviours Influenced by the IWMMental health
- Lack of attachment during the critical period = lack of IWM
- Children with attachment disorder have no preferred attachment figure, an inability to interact and relate to others and have experience of frequent neglect - 7EvaluationCorrelational research
> Research linking the IWM to later relationships is correlational rather than experimental = cannot distinguish cause and effect - 8EvaluationRetrospective classification
> Most studies rely on retrospective classification (questions about childhood)
> Recollections can be flawed but longitudinal studies also support research - 9EvaluationOverly determinist
> Suggests that very early experiences have a fixed effect on later adult relationships
> Children who are insecurely attached are doomed to experience unsatisfactory relationships as adults
> Not the case = happy adults could have been insecurely attached children