attachment - studies

• geiger - the role of the father


  fathers play interactions were more exciting compared to mothers, supporting the argument that a fathers role is a playmate
• hrdy - the role of the father


  he found that men are less able to detect low levels of infant distress

  this supports the argument that the reason men arent the primary caregiver is due to lack of oestrogen
• belsky - the role of the father


  she found that if there were high levels of marital intimacy - the attachment between father-infant was more likely to be secure. if there were low levels of marital intimacy then the attachment is likely to be insecure
• two arguments for role of the father

  • fathers play a less important role than mothers (social factors and biological factors)
  • fathers are just as important as mothers but their role is different (playmate)
• ainsworth - the strange situation


  12 - 18 month old infants

  8 different scenarios (mother + infant, mother + infant + stranger, stranger + infant)

  70% = secure

  15% = insecure resistant

  15% = insecure avoidant
• interactional synchrony - meltzoff + moore


  there was an adult model who displayed 3 facial expressions/hand gestures

  dummy in infants mouth during display

  dummy was taken out and infants response was filmed

  film was judged by independant observer

  they found an association between infants behaviour and adults

  argue that interactional synchrony is innate
• learning theory of attachment 


  classical conditioning - infant learns to associate feeding/comfort with primary caregiver

  operant conditioning - infant cries and mother feeds it, infants behaviour is reinforced through positive reinforcement (infants behaviour) the caregivers behaviour is reinforced through negative reinforcement
• bowlbys monotropic theory


  imprinting occurs in humans and is explained by evolution

  they form one main attachment to the mother

  the critical period is 3 years
• bowlby - internal working model


  first primary attachment creates a schema for relationships

  helps the infant understand behaviour of caregiver and acts as a template for later relationships
• rutter - romanian orphans

  165 romanian orphans before being adopted by british families

  some spent longer in the institution

  physical, social and cognitive development was assessed at 4, 6, 11 and 15

  compared to british adoptees

  adopted before 6m - caught up in physical + cognitive development, mean IQ was 102

  after 6m - showed disinhibited attachment and had problems with peers, mean IQ of 77

  adopted after 2 years - the effect was more pronounced
• zeanah et al - romanian orphans 


  compared attachment type using strange situation

  children ages 12-31 months

  spent 90% of their lives in an institution

  compared to non institutionalised

  74% of the control group were secure compared to 19% of the institutionalised group

  44% of institutionalised - disinhibited attachment compared to 20% of control group
• bowlbys theory of maternal deprivation


  children need emotional care to ensure normal mental health

  maternal deprivation - infant and caregiver are separated for periods of time eg caregiver going to work

  in return, infant is deprived from emotional care

  long term consequences of the childs emotional and social development (delinquency and affectionless psychopathy)

  however, will only have this effect if happens during critical period (before the age of 2.5)
• bowlby - 44 thieves

  • investigate long term effects of early deprivation
  • 88 children referred to clinic for behaviour problems
  • 44 were thieves
  • 14 were affectionless psychopaths
  • 86% of the thieves (12/14) suffered maternal deprivation
  • control group - 17% (5/30)
  • only 4% of non criminals experienced maternal deprivation
  • concluded early separation is associated with problems later in social life
• evaluation of bowlby maternal deprivation


  s : 44 thieves study

  C : children (under 4) were hospitalised due to tuberculosis, weekly visits from parents and little emotional care. no differences were found in terms of delinquency or problems in social relationships compared to control group who hadnt been in hospital

  C: rutter claimed bowlby failed to distinguish between deprivation and privation

  P: encouraging parents to stay overnight in hospitals
• Van Ljzendoorn - cultural variations


  32 studies (using strange situation)

  8 different countries

  2,000 classifications

  japan = highest insecure resistant (27%)

  germany = highest insecure avoidant (35%)

  britain = highest secure (75%)
• evaluation of Van Ljzendoorn

  S : sample size was large, increases accuracy and can be generalised

  C : claims to be investigating cultural variations but comparing the percentage type. since countries can be made up of many cultures, inappropriate to draw conclusions

  C : only included 8 countries, not large enough to draw cultural variation conclusions

  C : 18/32 of the studies used were from america
• Robertson and Robertson


  baby john

  residential nursery for 9 days

  tried to get attention from nurses by crying but they were too busy

  showed signs of detachment after a few days

  when mom picked him up, reluctant to show affection
• eval of caregiver-infant interactions


  S : possible to use well controlled procedures

  S : studies had high inter observer reliability

  C : not possible to draw firm conclusions as infants move their mouth and wave arms constantly

  C : impossible to determine cause and effect

  P : helped recognise the important of reciprocity and interactional synchrony in attachment
• evaluation of learning theory


  S : can be tested using scientific methods eg harlow

  CE : harlow and schaffers stages of attachment

  A : bowlby emphasises evolution in forming attachments, stronger model as supported by a range of research
• eval of bowlby monotropic theory


  SE : for the idea attachment is adaptive eg infants form attachment when at an age its most vital for survival. infants begin to crawl at 6 months and thats when the attachment forms

  SE : for monotropy eg schaffer found babies form specific attachments to primary figure

  SE : internal working model + continuity hypothesis eg one study found those who had secure attachment types had happier and trusting romantic relationships

  CE : critical period eg children in insitutions during CP were able to form attachments and develop normally
• eval for orphan studies 


  P : changes to adoption policies and practices eg babies are now adopted in the first week of birth

  M : issue of cofounding variables eg romanians subject to more conditions than lack of emotional care eg poor physical conditions

  I : unrepresentative of target population eg not all are adopted