Attachment

?
Define the term 'Attachment'
Special type of an emotional bonds between two people that is long-lasting
1 of 45
Outline the 'Strange Situation' (A01) (Aim and procedure)
Aim investigate different types of attachment children have with mothers Procedure controlled observation, mothers children, stranger to interact in a room, young child watched 1/2hr, either with both, mum or stranger or by themselves
2 of 45
The baby was assessed on 4 criteria during this period: (A01)
Seperation anxiety-distress when mum leaves room Reunion behaviour-happy/not to see mum on return Willingness to explore-extent to which child explores room Stranger anxiety-shows distress/not when stranger interacts with them
3 of 45
What were the findings of the 'Strange situation' study by Ainsworth and Bell?
66% securely attached (showed all 4 behaviour), 22% insecurely avoidant showed only WTE, 12% insecure resistant, showed seperation and stranger anxiety
4 of 45
Evaluate the 'Strange Situation' study (Positives) (A02)
+ good pratical applications have been produced 'circle of security' project, helps inc secure attachments by getting mums more responsive - research applied positively + Main 99' suggests childs attachment primarily determind my mother figure-valid
5 of 45
Evaluate the 'Strange Situation' study (Negatives) (A02)
- Unethical; 20% infants showed mild distress when left on own, psychological harm - Lacks validity as it only focuses on attachment child has with mother who may not be primary caregiver Main&Weston-behaved differently depending on parent theyre wit
6 of 45
Outline 'Cultural differences' study by Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (Aims and procedure) (A01)
Aim- investigate different proportions of attachment typed in different countires, Procedure-meta annalysis of 32 studies in 8 countires, over 2000 ** stuudies
7 of 45
Outline 'Cultural differences' study by Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (Findings) (A01)
Securely attached most common in all places, most insecure avoidant as second common, insecure resistant 3rd. Israel&Japan-more resistant and less avoidant, Gemany-more avoidant than other places
8 of 45
Evaluation of 'Cultural differences' study
+ Good population validity - ** flawed measure of attachment; having avoidant child suggest parents are bad & japanese infants spend first year in close contact of mum ** would suggest poor parenting -Non rep; only 1 area of a country
9 of 45
Outline the evolutionary explanation of attachment - Bowlby (A01)
Attachments=beneficial for surrvival in 3 ways: Safety - born helpless need to attach to someone who feeds and comforts us 2 Emotional relationships - template for future relationships
10 of 45
cont... Outline the evolutionary explanation of attachment - Bowlby (A01)
3 Secure base for exploration - those with good attachment to caregiver will explore environment more, will benefit intellectual development
11 of 45
What is the 'sensitive period' & What does the term 'social releasers' mean?
Sensitive period - restricted amount of time to form attachment before lost (2nd quater of babies life) & Social releasers - behaviours, reinforce attachment through encouragment of caregiving (smiling/crying)
12 of 45
Evaluation of the Evolutionary explination (A02) (Positives)
+ Theory stimulated further research and pratical applications - ** + Hazan & Shaver's study provided support for the working model - interviewed adults about childhood, insecure- short term relationships, secure- long lasting relationships
13 of 45
Evaluation of th Evolutionary explination (A02) (Negatives)
- Evidence of internal working model, Howe who found relationship infants with caregivers werent same as friends - goes against idea attachment type same for al relationships - Hard to falsify theory; cant scientifically test his theory
14 of 45
Outline of Leaning theory (A01) (Classical conditioning)
Classical conditioning: Attachment formed by associating mum with pleasure caused by food
15 of 45
Outline of Learning theory (A01) (Operant conditioning)
Attaches to mum; rewarded with food. Encouraged to cry when hungry when hungry - mum feeds child as child stops crying. Food= primary reinforcer Mum= secondary; associated with food
16 of 45
Describe Harlows study with monkeys... (A01)
Monkey goes to fake monkey with comfort rather than food at first, but goes to food one if hungry. Against Learing theory; spends more time with comfort monkey than food
17 of 45
Evaluate the Learning theory (A02) (Positive)
+ Relevent theory; attachment can be explained to certain extent by learning to associate mum with food 'cupboard love' (loving those who feed you) comes from this theory
18 of 45
Evaluate the Learning theory (A02) (Negatives)
- Lacks population validity - Evidence against theory; in Harlow's study found monkey showed more interest in comfort monkey - Schaffer&Emerson's study on Glasgow babies found 40% attachments not with those who fed them-level of care rather than food
19 of 45
What is distuption of attachment?
It is where the child gets seperated from their caregiver for a few days/weeks/months in the first few years of their lives
20 of 45
Outline research studies into the effects of disruption of attachment (A01) (Skeels & Dye)
Skeels & Dye-Institutionalised children (raised in orphanages - seperated at young age) scored poorly on IQ tests - affected intellectual development
21 of 45
Outline research studies into the effects of disruption of attachment (A01) (Spitz and Wolf)
Studied normal children placed in Orphanages and found they became depressed during first few months in Institution - being seperated from caregiver at young age affects emotional development
22 of 45
Outline research studies into the effects of disruption of attachment (A01) (Robertson)
Case study of John (9 day stay from parents) John didnt recieve any substitute emotional care, became more distressed and showed anger and detachment to parents for months after, even short term periods lead to issues with relationships with parents
23 of 45
Evaluate research into the effects of disruption to attachment (A02) (Positives)
+ High ecological validity: takes place in RW settings and behaviour displayed will therefore be more genuine
24 of 45
Evaluate research into the effects of disruption to attachment (A02) (Negatives)
Disruption doesnt always have neg impact on development seperation from caregivers;Robertson found they were fine if given sub care Individual differences, Barrett: sec attached coped better with seperation - Case studies= issues with generalisation
25 of 45
What does privation mean?
Lack of having any attachments due to failure to develop such attachments during early life
26 of 45
What is deprivation?
When the attachment is broken
27 of 45
Outline the case studies of isolated children (A01)
Genie - was kept in isolation till 13, strapped to potty, beaten frequently, never spoke to anyone, size of 6 year old, put into a few foster families and rehab prog but didnt attain normal intellectual/social development. couldve been born with LD
28 of 45
Outline another case study of isolated children (A01)
Czech Twins - Seperated from mum and brought up by uncaring stepmum, discovered at 7, locked together in cupboard, taken into care and made full recovery; they had each other & were younger when found
29 of 45
Evaluate the two case studies of isolated children (A02) (Positive)
Help us understand privation; results suggest you can recover if you're discovered early and have made attachments & taken good care of after privation
30 of 45
Evaluate the two case studies of isolated children (A02) (Negative)
- Hard to say if it was privation that caused Genies behaviour; couldve been born with LD, study failed to take extranous variable into account - Hard to generalise; case studies of individuals
31 of 45
Outline institutional studies on Privation (A01) (Hodges & Tizard)
Studied children who were institutionalised before 4m, studied at different points until 16. Adopted=good attachment bond&Back w/ family=hard to form bond. Both struggled with peer relationships
32 of 45
Outline institutional studies on Privation (A01) (Rutter) & (Quinton et al)
R-Studied romanian orphans, experienced privation until 2, full recovery after being adopted to British family Q-Studied women brought up in childrens homes&found they had poorer relationships with their children-lack of warmth
33 of 45
Evaluate institutional studies on privation (A02) (Positives)
H&T privation doesnt affect ablity to form future attachment;those adopted formed good realtionships,can affect socail development though R shows child can recover from privation if it doesnt occur for long;discovered early enough in sensitive stage
34 of 45
Evaluate institutional studies on privation (A02) (Negatives)
Rutter used romanian orphans=lack population validity;doesnt relate to children around world Quinton lacks control of extraneous variables;natural experiment other factors couldve affected relationships
35 of 45
Evaluate institutional studies on privation (A02) (Positive)
Quinton et al's study has high ecological validity; they study behaviour in real life situations
36 of 45
What is day care?
Involves parents leaving their children to be looked after by someone else in the day (Nursery/Childminder); they are busy, for eg. at work
37 of 45
Outline research into day care on social development (A01)
Russel-conducted meta-analysis of 88 studies, found more than 20hrs a week had a neg effect on social&emotional development-could increase agression and have a neg effect on peer relations
38 of 45
cont... Outline research into day care on social development (A01)
NICHD in America started a longitudinal study, looked at +1000 children in day care, main findings were day care made child more agressive and disobedient, neg effect on social development
39 of 45
cont... Outline research into day care on social development (A01)
Belsky reviewed research that used strange situation to assess attachment types of children who had more/less day care. 20+ before 1=insecure attached, day care=neg effect on social development-hard to make friends
40 of 45
Evaluation of research into day care on social development (A02)
Clarke-Stewart found 150 children were advanced in social development (more obedient&better social skills) day care can have + effect. Field=greater amount of time in day care,more friends they had + effect on development
41 of 45
cont... Evaluation of research into day care on social development (A02)
Hard to draw conc on effect day care has with social development; different studies show different results. Day care=+ effect on social development, depends on:quality of care, type of children assessed & what happens at home
42 of 45
Implications of research into attachment: Research has had + effect in RW, what are they?
1 children can now be visited regularly in hospital 2 fostered in 1st week of birth then when older&formed a bond 3 helped mums improve relations 'circle of security project' 4 effect on day care centres
43 of 45
Name the good characteristics of day care
Low child to staff ratios too many=not enough attention, Minimal staff turnover - attachments wont be broken, Sensitive emotional care - being attentive so will form attachments & Qualified staff
44 of 45
Name the strategies for reducing negative effects of disruption of attachment in day care
Making sure staff are trained to be sensitive so right amount of substitute emotional care is provided, same staff are used, don't have too many children to look after;childs needs arent fully met otherwise
45 of 45

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Outline the 'Strange Situation' (A01) (Aim and procedure)

Back

Aim investigate different types of attachment children have with mothers Procedure controlled observation, mothers children, stranger to interact in a room, young child watched 1/2hr, either with both, mum or stranger or by themselves

Card 3

Front

The baby was assessed on 4 criteria during this period: (A01)

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What were the findings of the 'Strange situation' study by Ainsworth and Bell?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Evaluate the 'Strange Situation' study (Positives) (A02)

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Psychology resources:

See all Psychology resources »See all Attachment resources »