Developmental Psychology (Attachment) not including day care

Created by: ava.scott
Created on: 05-04-14 17:57

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Developmental Psychology (Attachment)
- Theories of Attachment
  - Bowlbys theory
    - MISCI
      - Monotropy- the idea that every infant has one special attachment with a person.
      - Internal Working Model- The idea that the attachments made as a child will become a blueprint for future relationships.
      - Critical Period- The time in which an attachment must be made before it is impossible to make one at all. For humans this is 2.5 years.
      - Innate/Adaptive- There is a genetic predisposition to make an attachment, it is not a learnt thing.
    - Evaluation
      - Supporting evidence
        Harlow's Monkeys- These Rhesus monkeys were isolate from birth and only given two 'mothers' - a white mother with a teat providing milk, and a cloth mother. The monkey always used the cloth mother for comfort and this seems to disprove that the provision of food is so key to attachment. The monkeys also displayed very anti-social behaviour when put with other monkeys, failing to mate and sometimes showing aggression. This justifies the internal working model.
        However, these are not humans, so we cannot draw direct conclusions from them. The monkeys had no social stimulation at all, and perhaps if they had observed other attachments they would have been more socially adapt.
        Lorenz's Ducks- Duck eggs hartched infront of him, and the ducklings made an attachment to Lorenz. Then, sometime later, he mixed his ducklings with a set of other duckings and then released them. He found that the ducklings immeditaley parted towards either Lorenz or their duck-mother. This proves that it is innate to make attachments, as the duckings attached to Lorenz before any food was involved.
        
        Hazen and Shaver Love Quiz- This questionnaire showed how those with less secure attachements as a child had less successful relationships in the future e.g. were more likely to be divorced. This supports internal working model.
        However, questionnaires are notoriously unreliable as many people are susceptible to social desirability bias, and demand characteristics e.g. people know the questionnaire wants to draw conclusions between childhood attachment and later relationships, so they report in a biased way.
        Also, the questionnaire was only carried out by Americans- experiences could very different in other cultures.
        
        Lorenz's Ducks- Duck eggs hartched infront of him, and the ducklings made an attachment to Lorenz. Then, sometime later, he mixed his ducklings with a set of other duckings and then released them. He found that the ducklings immeditaley parted towards either Lorenz or their duck-mother. This proves that it is innate to make attachments, as the duckings attached to Lorenz before any food was involved.
      - Challenging evidence
        Tizard and Hodges- followed 65 children who has been put in a institution where attachment was banned, before the age of 4 months. 24 of these children were adopted and 15 reinstated into their old homes by 4 years in care. They found that the adopted kids had better relationships than the reinstated kids, challenging the critical period ( because the adopted children had to make this attachemnt after the 2.5 year limit) However, the reinstated children were going back to a home that may not have been steady (as they had to be removed first time) whereas the adopted children went somewhere they were really wanted. This could have lead to better attachment.
      - Practical Applications
        Social Policy- encouraged maternity and paternity laws to extend time off work, as the attachment period is so 'critical'.
        
        Adoption policies- adoption will have the best results if it occurs before 2.5 years of life.
        
        Advice for parents- the key aspects of attachment are encouraged to be fulfilled to succeed in happy, secure attachments.
      - Social Sensitivity
        Feminists argue that it puts pressure of others to stay at home, therefore discoyraging women from high-end jobs and career growth. It could also make working women feel guilty about pursuing a career.
  - Learning Theory
    - Two explanations
      - Classical Conditioning-
        Food (unconditioned stimulus (UCS)) causes the baby to be happy (unconditioned response (UCR))
        The mother delivers the food and is a neutral stimulus.
        Baby soon learns to associate the mother with happiness, until the mother alone can stimulate this feeling. Mother= conditioned stimulus., happinness = conditioned response.
      - Operant Conditioning
        The consequences of a behaviour are key to the future occurrence of that behaviour e.g. a positive consequence = more occurrences.
        
        Baby is in a drive state( e.g. hunger) and is crying. Mother wishes to solve this so feeds the baby.
        This is negative reinforcement for the mother and positive reinforcement for the baby.
        Mother is a secondary reinforcer, and food is a primary reinforcer.
        Baby learns to cry fro food.
    - EVALUATION:
      - supporting evidence:
        Feral Children e.g. Oxana. Oxana had alcholic parents and from a very young age was provided food by her dogs. She was then very attached to them and took on canine characteristics. This supports learning theory as her attachment seems to have come from the provision of food.
        However, its a case study, which meants it has many variables, and low population validity (being a one off) The dogs could have also provoked an attachment by their warmth and comfort/
      - challenging evidence:
        Harlows monkeys: the monkeys werent attached to the feeding 'mother, but the soft mother. This challenged the idea that food is the key element in attachment.
        
        Glasgow infants: 39% of these babies formed an attachment with someone other than the person who fed them, suggesting food is not the key aspect of attachment,
      - Practical Applictions:
        encouraged interaction with children, which we now know is beneficial (any interaction is beneficial).
        
        Encouraged further research into attachment
- Types of Attachment
  - Cultural Variation in Attachment
    - Van ijzendoorn and krooenburg- created a met-analysis of all strange situation studies done in the world. They found considerable consistency across the board, with secure attachments being prominent everywhere. However, the two isecure types changed in prevalences between countries.
      - The prevalance of secure attachments could be a product of mass media. If the behaviour linked to secure attachments is advertised in media, people are more likely to take it on.
      - The meta-analysis often only used one study within an entire country. This means the results cnnot be representative of the whole countrie's population e.g. the chinese study used just 36 infants in a population of 1.5 billion. This means that any social policy derived from this study could be irrelevant to much of the population, and it also means comparisons between countries may be invalid.
      - The strange situation means different things in different cultures e,g, in Germany children were taught to be more independent of their parents, so they may seem avoidant compared to American children.
    - Takahashi- This Japanese psychologist looked at 60 middle class infants. He found much higher levels of insecure restant attachments due to the high levels of anxiety when separated from the mother
      - This is almost definitely due to the culture of Japan. Infants are kept with their mothers at all time, so teh separation was actually testing high-levels of anxiety rather than slight anxiety. This could make the study invalid, as the secure characteristics of the west are obviously irrelevant in Japan.
        The strange situation means different things in different cultures e,g, in Germany children were taught to be more independent of their parents, so they may seem avoidant compared to American children.
      - very small scale study- not representative of the whole population.
- Abnormal Attachment
  - Disruption
    - CASE STUDY OF JOHN- 17 month old boy with a harmonious, secure attachment with his mother. He goes into care for 9 days, with an institution with high child;staff ratio. He soon turns into a hysterical, non-eating child, and rejects his mother on reunion.
      - Case study- many variables and low population validity.
      - Naturally occurring behaviour, which produces rich data.
      - Researchers may lack objectivity.
      - identified low child:staff ratio as a key factor in institutions.
    - Bowlbys juvenile thieves- 88 children were refereed to his child guidance clinic. 44 of these were thieves, and of these 44, 16 were diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths. Then through a series of intervi interviews discovred that 60% of the pychopaths had expereibce early separation from their mother. Only 4% of the 44 other children had. He concluded that early maternal separation lead to a suscesptibiliy to psychopathy.
      - Lead to Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis- motherly care must be continuous and intimate.
      - Interviews re open to social desirability bias.
      - Populationally invalid- only one area in America.
      - There could be an underlying factor between the psychopaths and the separations e.g. a genetic tendency t leave the children, which also passes on as psychopathics.
      - made it clear that children emotions were needed to be taken into account- lead to change in hospital and prison visiting times being altered.
      - Untitled
  - Privation
    - GENIE- found at 13 years old, majorly undeveloped for her age with no language or social skills. She failed to make much development after being found.
      - Very old wehn found- most development should have taken place.
      - Her father thought she had been mentally ill, resulting in her isolation. If this was true this could exoplain her lack of development.
      - Inconsistent after care. Went to an abusive foster family and then back to her mother for a while. Could also be key to her lack of progress.
        Both case studoes, so they lack population validity.
        Had a very loving foster family.
      - Never attached to anyone .g. siblings or mother.
    - Czech twins , found at 7 and made very good progress.
      - No signs of mental illness.
      - Found considerably younger than Genie, so still had time to make social connections.
      - Had a chnace to attach to mother before she died, and also had eachother.
      - Had a very loving foster family.
Social Releases- These are the behaviours and reactions to a infant that help create an attachment e.g. cooing and 'aw'ing to a baby's giggles and cries will make for a stronger attachment.
- MISCI
  - Monotropy- the idea that every infant has one special attachment with a person.
  - Internal Working Model- The idea that the attachments made as a child will become a blueprint for future relationships.
  - Critical Period- The time in which an attachment must be made before it is impossible to make one at all. For humans this is 2.5 years.
  - Innate/Adaptive- There is a genetic predisposition to make an attachment, it is not a learnt thing.
Czech Twins- These two identical twin boys were found after 7 years of terrible neglect and abuse. After being given to very loving foster families, they made great development in previously halted language skills and physical stature. They are now living normally.This also challenged the critical period.
- However, the two boys could have attached to each other, explaining their drastic improvements.
- Challenging evidence
  - Tizard and Hodges- followed 65 children who has been put in a institution where attachment was banned, before the age of 4 months. 24 of these children were adopted and 15 reinstated into their old homes by 4 years in care. They found that the adopted kids had better relationships than the reinstated kids, challenging the critical period ( because the adopted children had to make this attachemnt after the 2.5 year limit) However, the reinstated children were going back to a home that may not have been steady (as they had to be removed first time) whereas the adopted children went somewhere they were really wanted. This could have lead to better attachment.
supporting evidence:
- Feral Children e.g. Oxana. Oxana had alcholic parents and from a very young age was provided food by her dogs. She was then very attached to them and took on canine characteristics. This supports learning theory as her attachment seems to have come from the provision of food.
  - However, its a case study, which meants it has many variables, and low population validity (being a one off) The dogs could have also provoked an attachment by their warmth and comfort/
AINSWORTHS STRANGE SITUTAION STUDY
- Types of Attachment
  - Cultural Variation in Attachment
    - Van ijzendoorn and krooenburg- created a met-analysis of all strange situation studies done in the world. They found considerable consistency across the board, with secure attachments being prominent everywhere. However, the two isecure types changed in prevalences between countries.
      - The prevalance of secure attachments could be a product of mass media. If the behaviour linked to secure attachments is advertised in media, people are more likely to take it on.
      - The meta-analysis often only used one study within an entire country. This means the results cnnot be representative of the whole countrie's population e.g. the chinese study used just 36 infants in a population of 1.5 billion. This means that any social policy derived from this study could be irrelevant to much of the population, and it also means comparisons between countries may be invalid.
    - Takahashi- This Japanese psychologist looked at 60 middle class infants. He found much higher levels of insecure restant attachments due to the high levels of anxiety when separated from the mother
      - This is almost definitely due to the culture of Japan. Infants are kept with their mothers at all time, so teh separation was actually testing high-levels of anxiety rather than slight anxiety. This could make the study invalid, as the secure characteristics of the west are obviously irrelevant in Japan.
      - very small scale study- not representative of the whole population.
- Secure attachment
  - 66%
    - uses mother as a base for exploration
      - subdued when mother leaves
        is only calmed by mother, but calms relatively quickly.
- Insecure avoidant
  - 22%
    - explores freely with no base
      - only distressed when left entirely alone
        equally comforted by stranger and mother, comforted easily.
- insecure resistnt
  - 12%
    - little exploration from mother
      - hysterical and distressed when mother leaves
        takes ages to calm down, stranger has no effect.
- EVALUATION:
  - Kagans temperment hypothesis- This is the theory taht we are born with an innate personality, that would affect how infants respond to various aspects of the Strange Situation Study (SSS). This would mske the study irrelevant to attachment as it is not determined by the mothers behaviour.
  - 4th attachment type- a fourth disorganised attachment toe was disocvered. This makes the results invalid, as some off the infants would have been classified incorrectly,.
  - Demand Characteristics of mother- the mother may act differently therefore causing the behaviour of the child to change= invalid results.
  - One tested one relationship- the infant could be attached to another caregiver in a different, more prevalent manner.
  - Artificial Setting- the infamts behavior could vary greatly between familiar and new environments making the experiment ecologically invalid.
  - Looks at only American, middle class families, so the results may feature populational bias.
  - Positives:
    - helps identofy healthy relationships so we can help the care situation of a child.
Institutionalisation
- Abnormal Attachment
  - Disruption
    - CASE STUDY OF JOHN- 17 month old boy with a harmonious, secure attachment with his mother. He goes into care for 9 days, with an institution with high child;staff ratio. He soon turns into a hysterical, non-eating child, and rejects his mother on reunion.
      - Case study- many variables and low population validity.
      - Naturally occurring behaviour, which produces rich data.
      - Researchers may lack objectivity.
      - identified low child:staff ratio as a key factor in institutions.
    - Bowlbys juvenile thieves- 88 children were refereed to his child guidance clinic. 44 of these were thieves, and of these 44, 16 were diagnosed as affectionless psychopaths. Then through a series of intervi interviews discovred that 60% of the pychopaths had expereibce early separation from their mother. Only 4% of the 44 other children had. He concluded that early maternal separation lead to a suscesptibiliy to psychopathy.
      - Lead to Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis- motherly care must be continuous and intimate.
      - Interviews re open to social desirability bias.
      - Populationally invalid- only one area in America.
      - There could be an underlying factor between the psychopaths and the separations e.g. a genetic tendency t leave the children, which also passes on as psychopathics.
      - made it clear that children emotions were needed to be taken into account- lead to change in hospital and prison visiting times being altered.
      - Untitled
  - Privation
    - GENIE- found at 13 years old, majorly undeveloped for her age with no language or social skills. She failed to make much development after being found.
      - Very old wehn found- most development should have taken place.
      - Her father thought she had been mentally ill, resulting in her isolation. If this was true this could exoplain her lack of development.
      - Inconsistent after care. Went to an abusive foster family and then back to her mother for a while. Could also be key to her lack of progress.
        Both case studoes, so they lack population validity.
      - Never attached to anyone .g. siblings or mother.
    - Czech twins , found at 7 and made very good progress.
      - No signs of mental illness.
      - Found considerably younger than Genie, so still had time to make social connections.
      - Had a chnace to attach to mother before she died, and also had eachother.
- Rutters Romanian Orphans- 111 orphans had been living in a ver poor oprhanage. They moved to England, and were found to ave less than average IQ' s aswell as physical development. At 4 years old, they were similarly developed to 52 English orphans.
  - conclusions: negative impacts can be overcome by good after-care.Intervention in institutionalisation should have before 6 months (those is care longer than that were more negatiley impacted) and seperation from mother along is not not enough to suffice ill dvelopment as the english children did not suffer the same lack of development.
  - didnt compare to romanians- maybe they are more susceptible to disinhibited attachment.
- Tizard and hodges- followed 65 children in a institution where attachments were banned. the group naturally divided into 24 adopted kids and 15 reinstated kids. the adopted kids had much better securer relationships with their parents at 4 years old than thier renstated counterparts.
  - perhaps relationships after institutionalisation relies more on the post-care than the catual institutional care itself. The 'reinstated' children may have been r returned to families who didn't really wnat them.
  - Both groups were more needy and have poorer peer relationships than the control group.
  - may not have been strict or successful with the no attachment rule.
    - information gathered by questionnaires and interviews which are open to social desirability bias.

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Developmental Psychology (Attachment) not including day care

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