ATT 2

ATT 2

1. E: There is support for validity as attachment types predict later validity. For instance secure babies have greater success at school and more lasting romantic relationships. in contrast insecure resistant ATT is associated with with the worst outcome eg bullying (kokkinos) and mental health probs

   • E: The SS shows good inter rater reliability _____ diff observers watching the same children got very similar results (BICK found 94% agreement in one team). This may be because the SS takes place under controlled conditions and because the behaviourial categories are easy to observe. ___ we can be confident that the ATT type are not based on who observes the child but the child itself
   • E: A limitation is that the SS might be culture bound as it may not apply to countries outside the Western Europe and the US. Culrural diff in children's experiences mean that they respond diff. ____Takahashi reports that mothers in Japan are rarely separated from their parents so the child shows high levels of separation anxiety when they do.

2. Cultural variations ion ATT

   • VAN IJZENDOORN AND KROONENBERG META ANALYIS. P: The researchers looked at the proportions of secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure resistant ATT across a range of countries and also looked at the differences within the same countries to get an idea of variations within the same country. They found 32 studies of ATT using 1990 children conducted in 8 countries (15=USA)
     • F: Secure ATT was the most common in al countries but 50% in CHINA and 75% in BRITAIN. In Induvidualistic cultures, rates of IR att were similiar to the SS but not for collectivist cultures such as Palestine and Japan whose IR rates were above 25%. VAriations between countires was 150% greater than those between countries. In USA one sample had 45% but another 90%!
       • E: A strength of the meta analysis is that you can end up with very large samples. For instance in Kroonenbergs study there was almost 2000 babies and their PR. Even Simonelli's study had a large comparison group from previous research, though his were smaller. Large sample sizes increase internal validity by reducing the impact of biased methodology or unusual participants
         • E: A limitation is that the samples used may not be representative of culture. ___ in IJZENDOORN's meta analysis he made comparisons NOT cultures. Within any country there are diff cultures each with diff child rearing practices. Eg 2 researchers found that ATT in urban Japan were in similiar proportions to Western studies. This means that comparisons between counries (such as Italy and Korea) may have little meaning. The particular cultural characteristics would need to be specified
         • E: the SS may be biased towards British/American culture as it was designed by an American researcher based on a british theory (Bowlby) which may not be applicable to other cultures. Trying to apply a theory or technique designed for one culture to another is known as imposed etic which disregard cultural emic. The idea that a lack of pleasure on reunion indicates insecure att is an imposed etic. In GER this may be seen as more as independance rather than avoidance and not a sign of insecurity
           • E: there is an alternative explanation for the similarities found between cultures. Bowlby's explanation for cultural similarities was that att is innate and universal so produces the same kind of behaviours all over the world. IJand KROONENBERG suggested that small cross cultural diff may reflect the effects of mass media. Many books and TV programmes are broadcated around the World and create parenting norms so similarities in child rearing has become more common.
     • SIMONELLI ET AL assessed 76 12 month using the SS to see if the proportion of att types still matched previous studies in Italy. Mothers were varied in their level of education ( 57% uni degree//40% high school//2%uneducated) and their professions (48% worked //13% professionals // 39% unemployed)
       • F: found that 50% of babies were Secure with 16% insecure avoidant. This was a lower rate of secure than previous studies. An explanations of this is that mothers now increasingly work longer hours and use professional childcare and therefore cultural diff can chnage the pattern of att significantly

3. THE SS

4. Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation

   • Continued emotional care from a mother or mother substitute is necessary for normal emotional and intellectual development. Bowlby believed that mother love in infancy is 'as important for mental health as vitamins as proteins are for physical health'. Separation means the child is not physically in the presence of a PA figure. Deprivation means losing emotional care as a result of separation. Deprivation can be avoided if an alternative emotional care is offered. so separation doesn't always = deprivation
     • If a child is deprived of their mother (without substitute emotional care) for an extended time (during first 30 months) then psychological damage is inevitable. If a child is deprived of maternal care for too long during the critical period, they will suffer from mental retardation or low IQ. Goldfarb found lower IQ in children from institutions compared to those in foster homes
       • Lack of emotional care may also lead to affectionless psychopathy - the inability to experience guilt or strong emotions for others. This prevents the person from developing normal relationships and is associated with criminaity
     • BOWLBY'S 44 THIEVES STUDY. P: The sample in this study was 44 delinquent teens accused of stealing . When interviewing the fams to establish any prolonged separations from mothers. All thieves were interviewed for signs of affectionless psychopathy, characterised by lack of affection or guilt.
       • 14/44 of the kids were seen as 'affectionless psychopaths' with 12 of them having prolonged separation from their PA in the first 2 years of their life. only 5/30 remaining thives had experienced separations which suggests that prolonged separation = affectionless psychopathy
       • E: A limiation is that the sources of evidence for MD are flawed. For instance Goldfarb studied war orphans who had been traumatized and had recieved poor after care. Its possible that these traumas caused developmental diffculties rather than separation. Also, children raised in poor quality institutions were deprived of many aspects of care, not just maternal care. Bowlby carried out the assessments for affectionless psychopathy and the family interviews himself, knowing what he hoped to find. Therefore this affectes the results as it means that the results could be biased.
         • E: There is also counter evidence which does not support Bowlby's findings. For instance one researcher partially repllicated the 44 thieves study on a larger scale looking at 500 people. His results showed that early prolonged maternal separation did not predict ciminality or difficulty forming relationships. This is a limitation of Bowlby's theory because it suggests that other factors may affect the outcome of early attachment
           • E: Later research suggests that the 'critical period' is more of a sensitive period as one researcher did a case study on the Czech twins who were 2 boys isolated from the age of 18 months (locked in acupboard) later they were looked after by 2 lovong adults and appeared to recover fully. This would suggest that severe deprivation could have positive outcomes provided that the child has some social interaction an good after care. Cases like this show that the period identified by Bowlby may be a 'sensitive' one but cannot be critical. limiting his theory

5. Romanian Orphan Studies

   • Efects of instituionalisation:
     • DISINHIBITED ATT: The child is equally frienly and affectionate towards strangers and familiar ppl. This may be an adaptation of multiple caregivers.
       • DAMAGE TO INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT: institutionalised children often show signs of mental retardation. This effect isnt as pronounced if the child is adopted before 6 months of age.
     • RUTTER's Romanian orphans study: P: the researchers followed a group of 165 romanian orphans who experienced very poor conditions before being adopted in Britain. This longitudinal study tested teh extent to which good care can make up for poor early experiences in institutions. Physical, cognitive and emotional development were assessed at 4//6//11//15 years. they also followed a control group fo 52 British orphans that were adopted
       • F: Half of the orphans showed mental retardation when they came to the UK. At age 11 recovery rates were related to their age of adoption.
         • those adopted B4 6 months=IQ of 102:::::those adopted between 6M-2Y=IQ of 86::::::::Those adopted after 2Y=IQ of 77
           • frequency of disinhibited att: children adopted after 6M: more clingy, attention seeking and indiscriminate affection 4 strangers
             • These findings support the view that there is a sensitive period in the development of findings eg failure to form an att after 6M=appears to have long lasting effects
       • Evaluation:

Imagens e arquivos do mapa