Attachment

• What is an advantage of the stages of attachment?

  It is a mixture of self-report and observations. This research was carried out in the ps own homes. The mothers were interviewed and observed meaning the data was rich and varied. This suggests attachment theory is highly valid and conclusions can be drawn.
• what is a weakness of attachment theory?

  psychologists disagree about when a baby forms multiple attachment. Bowlby argues that a baby cannot form multiple attachment until they’ve developed a primary attachment figure. others think that babies form multiple attachment very quickly, especially in collectivist cultures. therefore, we cannot draw conclusions.
• what are the main points of the learning theory?

  dollard and miller, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, primary drive
• what are the main point’s of Bowlby’s theory

  critical period, monotropy, internal working model, social releasers
• what is a strength of Bowlby’s theory?

  there is evidence that monotropy is universal. Fox researched into Israeli communal farms. Children spent the majority of their day with nurses, and only 3 hours with their biological mother. The infants still formed a special attachment with their mother. This supports Bowlby’s claim that monotropy is innately programmed in infants.
• what is a limitation of Bowlby’s theory?

  the evidence for monotropy is mixed. Schaffer and Emerson found that within a month of forming a primary attachment, 29% of babies had formed a secondary attachment. therefore, the research findings are inconclusive and lack reliability.
• what are the main points of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?

  maternal deprivation explanation, separation vs deprivation, the critical period and long term consequences
• in Bowlby’s theory of MD, what are the long term consequences?

  emotional maladjustment and mental health problems
• what is research to support maternal deprivation

  Bowlby’s 44 thieves study (1944)
• what are the effects of maternal deprivation?

  intellectual and emotional development
• what does Goldfarb support?

  intellectual development as an effect of maternal deprivation
• what is a positive of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?

  it has important practical applications. Previously, children were separated from parents when left in hospitals and visiting was discouraged. Robertson filmed 2 year old Laura who was in the hospital for 8 days. He found that she was visibly distressed.
• what is a weakness of Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation?

  bowlby himself studies the children and conducted the interviews himself. He defined affectionless psychopathy himself. He ignored anyone criticising his theory. The children lived during a traumatic time (WW2) which affected their behaviour.
• What is a positive of the learning theory of attachment?

  It is based on scientific principles of classical and operant conditioning by Pavlov and Skinner who are important theorists in many areas of psychology. Therefore, this suggests that the learning theory of attachment has some validity, as it has remained an informational and influential feature in psychological thinking.
• what is the counter evidence of the learning theory of attachment?

  Harlow conducted a study using monkeys and found that when monkeys were scared, they were much more likely to seek comfort from the cloth mother as opposed to the mother who provided them with food. this suggests that perhaps comfort is more important than food, and so babies become most attached to the person who provides comfort. this is a weakness as the learning theory of attachment is based heavily on the importance of food.
• what is a negative of the learning theory of attachment?

  it ignores the fact that the quality of attachment is important, not just having someone to provide food. EG: interactional synchrony and reciprocity are important processes that help attachments to develop and strengthen. Furthermore, Schaffer and Emerson found that 39% of babies were attached to the person who did not feed them, demonstrating that it was attention which is the most important, not food. therefore, one could argue that the learning theory of attachment is too reductionist.
• What is a negative of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg

  It doesn’t take into account factors such as temperament and wider family influences which all play a role in attachment
• what did Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg find?

  Secure attachment was the most popular with 75% in Britain and 50% in China. Collectivist cultures such as Japan and Israel had the highest levels of insecure-resistant attachment. Individualistic cultures like Germany had the highest levels of insecure-avoidant attachment.
• what did Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg find out about variations between cultures?

  Variations within cultures are one and a half times greater than variations between cultures. This led them to conclude that secure attachment is the norm and this type of attachment is the best for a healthy development.
• What is a positive of caregiver-infant interactions?

  the research Involves controlled observations. These procedures capture behaviour on video recordings from lots of different angles. Recording behaviour means it can be analysed in greater detailed afterwards. This means that the research has high validity.
• what is a negative of caregiver-infant interactions?


  it is difficult to interpret behaviour. Infants cannot communicate using language so observations are based on behaviours alone. It is difficult to know exactly what a child is conveying based on body language and expressions. The research may lack validity, as we can’t be 100% sure we are measuring the correct behaviour.
• What is a strength of the role of the father?

  Most of this research is longitudinal. Research is carried out over a long period of time and contains rich and detailed data which can give a more valid insight. The research has high validity.
• what is a biological weakness about the role of the father?

  Fathers aren’t biologically equipped to fulfil the role of the primary caregiver. female hormones such as oestrogen create higher levels of nurturing which may be why women are more suited to the role of the caregiver. Fathers may not be able to give the same level of nurture and care as mothers.
• what is a methodological negative of the role of fathers?

  the research about father’s is inconsistent. some psychologists focus on the father being a secondary attachment figure, whereas others focus on what happens when the father becomes a primary attachment figure. Research findings are inconclusive which makes it difficult to form conclusions.
• What is a positive for the stages of attachment?

  It contains a mixture of self-report and observations. The research was carried out in the participants own homes. The mothers were interviewed and observed meaning the data was rich and varied. This theory is highly valid and conclusions can be drawn.
• what is a methodological negative of the stages of attachment?

  separation and stranger anxiety are difficult behaviours to observe. Just because a baby cries when someone leaves the room, doesn’t meant that they are attached to them. It is difficult to observe when a child is showing secondary attachment or whether they are just crying for company
• what is a negative of the stages of attachment?

  Psychologists disagree about when a baby forms multiple attachments. Bowlby thinks that babies can’t form multiple attachments until they’ve developed a primary attachment figure. Others think that some babies form multiple attachments very quickly, especially in collectivist cultures. Therefore, we canot draw conclusions.
• What is the negative of Lorenz’s research?

  It is difficult to apply the findings from geese to humans. Attachment in mammals is very different to birds, because mammals show a more emotional attachment to their offspring, compared to birds. It is therefore not appropriate to generalise the findings to human behaviour, since we are more concerned with emotional attachment.
• what is an implication of Lorenz’s study?

  the fact that the goslings imprinted irreversibly so early in life suggests that this was operating within a critical period, which was underpinned by biological changes. the longevity of the goslings bond with Lorenz supports the view that early attachments predict future bonds.
• what is a positive of Harlow’s study?

  is can help us to understand attachment in the real world. It can help social workers understand child neglect and abuse, and therefore try to intervene and prevent it. It has practical applications and can help children in vulnerable situations.
• what is a negative of Harlow’s research?

  there are serious ethical issues. The monkeys experiences extreme stress. Monkeys are considered similar enough to humans to be able to apply the findings, therefore they may have experience suffering that was human-like.
• What is a positive of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg?

  They used a meta-analysis with a large sample size of over 2000 babies. This large sample reduces the impact of anomalous results. Therefore, the results can be generalised.
• negative of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg?

  it is conducted in a situation that the infant is not familiar with. This means that children may have been acting differently to how they normally would. This is a weakness as it suggests that the strange situation may not be a valid measure of attachment type.
• Positive of influence of attachments on later relationships

  most studies use the strange situation to assess attachment type in children. This involves a standardised and controlled observation.
• weakness of influence of early attachments on later relationships (mixed)

  evidence is mixed. Hazan and Shaver’s Love Quiz seems to support the role of an internal working model. However, some evidence such as Zimmerman found that there is no relationship between quality of childhood attachment and adolescent relationships.
• weakness of influence of attachments on later relationships (correlational)

  the evidence is correlational. the evidence suggests a link between childhood attachments and future relationships but cannot conclude that it causes future relationships.