AS PSYCHOLOGY

Developmental Psychology – Early Social Development

Attachment Explanations of attachment, including learning theory and Bowlby’s theory

Types of attachment: secure attachment, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant

Use of the “Strange Situation” in attachment research

Cultural variations in attachment The effects of disruption of attachment, failure to

form attachment (privation) and institutional care

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Explanations of attachment, including learning theory and Bowlby’s theory

Learning theory of attachment

Learning theorists propose that much of our behaviour is the result of learning through interaction with our environment and others around us. This is an example of environmental determinism, which plays down the role of biological influences. Classical conditioning and operant conditioning are central to learning theories of attachment.

Pavlov and Classical Conditioning

The nineteenth-century Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov was looking at salivation in dogs in response to being fed, when he noticed that his dogs would begin to salivate whenever he entered the room, even when he was not bringing them food. At first this was something of a nuisance (not to mention messy!).

However, Pavlov discovered that any object or event which the dogs learnt to associate with food (such as the food bowl) would trigger the same response.

Classical conditioning is "classical" in that it is the first systematic study of basic laws of learning / conditioning.

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Classical conditioning involves learning to associate an unconditioned stimulus that already brings about a particular response (i.e. a reflex) with a new (conditioned) stimulus, so that the new stimulus brings about the same response.

Pavlov developed some rather unfriendly technical terms to describe this process. The unconditioned stimulus (or UCS) is the object or event that originally produces the reflexive / natural response.

The response to this is called the unconditioned response (or UCR). The neutral stimulus (NS) is a new stimulus that does not produce a response.

Once the neutral stimulus has become associated with the unconditioned stimulus, it becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS). The conditioned response (CR) is the response to the conditioned stimulus.

Classical conditioning of attachment

Pavlov’s model can be applied to attachment in human infants. If we assume that the infant’s innate, reflexive response to being fed is pleasure, then associated stimuli become signals for it. These are most likely to be caregivers, so attachment occurs because of the pleasure these caregivers provide.

Stimulus Response

UCS UCR

Food Pleasure

CS + UCS UCR

Caregiver + Food Pleasure

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CS CR

Caregiver Pleasure

BF Skinner and Operant Conditioning

Skinner introduced the concept of reinforcement into this area of psychology. Behaviour which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e. strengthened); behaviour which is not reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e. weakened).

Skinner coined the term operant conditioning; it means roughly changing of behaviour by the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response.

Skinner identified three types of responses or operant that can follow behaviour.

Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a behaviour being repeated. Reinforcers can be either positive or negative.

Punishers: Responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated. Punishment weakens behaviour.

Neutral operants: Responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the probability of a behaviour being repeated.

Skinner studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using animals which he placed in a “Skinner Box”

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Reinforcement (strengthen behaviour)

Skinner showed how positive reinforcement worked by placing a hungry rat in his Skinner box:

The box contained a lever in the side and as the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever.

Immediately it did so a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in

the box. The consequence of receiving food if they pressed the lever ensured that they would

repeat the action again and again.

Positive Reinforcement strengthens a behaviour by providing a consequence an individual finds rewarding.

The removal of an unpleasant reinforcer can also strengthen behaviour:

This is known as Negative Reinforcement because it is the removal of an adverse stimulus which is ‘rewarding’ to the animal.

Negative reinforcement strengthens behaviour because it stops or removes an unpleasant experience.

Skinner showed how negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat in his Skinner box and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current which caused it some discomfort.

As the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately it did so the electric current would be switched off.

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The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box.

The consequence of escaping the electric current ensured that they would repeat the action again and again.

In fact Skinner even taught the rats to avoid the electric current by turning on a light just before the electric current came on.

The rats soon learned to press the lever when the light came on because they knew that this would stop the electric current being switched on.

These two learned responses are known as Escape Learning and Avoidance Learning.

Punishment (weakens behaviour)

Punishment is defined as the opposite of reinforcement since it is designed to weaken or eliminate a response rather than increase it:

Like reinforcement, punishment can work either by directly applying an unpleasant stimulus like a shock after a response or by removing a potentially rewarding stimulus, for instance, deducting someone’s pocket money to punish undesirable behaviour.

It is not always easy to distinguish between punishment and negative reinforcement.

Operant conditioning of attachment

Dollard and Miller (1950) extended Skinner’s ideas to take into account internal mental processes called drive states, such as hunger, which motivate behaviour to reduce the drive. If a human infant is hungry and cries, the consequence is usually that it will be fed (primary reinforcement), and the hunger goes away. This rewarding consequence is an example of negative reinforcement. At the same time, a tasty meal is also rewarding and hence is an example of positive reinforcement. Stimuli associated with drive reduction, such as caregivers, are secondary reinforcers or signals that reinforcement is on its way so attachment occurs because of what caregivers can provide. The reason for the attachment bond is therefore ‘cupboard love’

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Learning theory

General points:

o Learning theory argues that behaviour is learned rather than inborn. o Individuals are born as ‘blank states’ and everything they become is based on the

experiences they have.o Learning theory is associated with behaviourists who focus solely on observable

behaviour rather than internal mental states.o Behaviourists argue that attachment, like all behaviour, is learned through classical

or operant conditioning!

Learning theory of attachment

Dollard & Miller (1950) suggests that attachment is a set of learned behaviours:

o The basis for the learning of attachments is the provision of food. An infant will initially form an attachment to whoever feeds it.

o A hungry infant feels uncomfortable and this creates a drive to reduce the discomfort.

o When the infant is fed the drive is reduced and this produces a feeling of pleasure (this is rewarding!)

o They learn to associate the feeder (usually the mother) with the comfort of being fed and through the process of classical conditioning, come to find contact with the mother comforting.

o They also find that certain behaviours (e.g. crying, smiling) bring desirable responses from others, and through the process of operant conditioning learn to repeat these in order to get the things they want.

o The learning theory explanation has been called the ‘cupboard love theory’ of attachment because it suggests that attachment is based on provision of food alone.

The strengths

Explains learning through association and reinforcement. Nevertheless, food may not be the main reinforcer, it may be that attention and responsiveness from a caregiver are important rewards that create the bond.

The weaknesses

The role of food in this explanation has been criticised and there is evidence to suggest that feeding has little to do with attachment.

Harlow (1959) – objected to the idea of attachment as ‘cupboard love’. Harlow went on to investigate the hypothesis that it was contact comfort rather than food that was crucial in the development of love

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Harlow created two wire mothers and placed them in a cage:

Wire/Cloth Mother Attachment behaviourLactating wire mother with a feeding bottle of milk

Some feeding!

Cloth mother –wire wrapped in soft cloth

The monkey spent most of its time clinging to the cloth mother, especially when frightened (proximity behaviour characteristic of attachment,

Learning theory might have predicted that the monkey showed more attention to the lactating monkey who offered a reduction of the hunger drive. However the monkeys spent more time with the ‘comforting’ cloth covered monkey.

Does a study using animals apply to humans? - problems of extrapolation

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) observed 60 babies from mainly working class homes in Glasgow for 1 year. They found that infants were more attached to the person who interacted with them the most and were the most responsive. They were less attached to the person who fed them!

Such studies indicate that ‘cupboard love’ may not be the strongest explanation for attachment.

Nevertheless, learning theory concepts such as association and reinforcement may be part of the explanation.

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Activity

1. What is learning theory and how might classical and operant conditioning be related to attachment? (Dollard and Miller, 1964)

2. How has the role of food in learning theory been criticised? Make reference to the research studies?

Essay Exam Question

Outline and evaluate the Learning Theory of attachment (12 marks)

Outline the Learning Theory of attachment (6 marks)AO1

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Evaluate the Learning Theory of attachment (6 marks)AO2

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Bowlby’s Theory of Attachment

The background

John Bowlby believed that mental health and behavioural problems could be attributed to early childhood.

Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment suggests that children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others, because this will help them

to survive.

Bowlby was very much influenced by ethological theory (study of animal behaviour) in general, but especially by Lorenz’s (1935) study of imprinting (See picture below). Imprinting involves an innate readiness to develop a strong bond with a mother figure, which takes place during a critical or sensitive period. Lorenz showed that attachment was innate (in young ducklings) and therefore has a survival value.

Bowlby believed that attachment behaviours are instinctive (innate behaviour) and will be activated by any conditions that seem to threaten the achievement of proximity, such as separation, insecurity and fear.

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Bowlby (1969, 1988) also argued that the fear of strangers represents an important survival mechanism, built in by nature. Babies are born with the tendency to display certain behaviours which help ensure proximity and contact with the mother or mother figure (e.g. crying, smiling, crawling, etc.) – these are species-specific behaviours.

During the evolution of the human species, it would have been the babies who stayed close to their mothers who would have survived to have children of their own and Bowlby hypothesised that both infants and mothers have evolved a biological need to stay in contact with each other.

These attachment behaviours initially function like fixed action patterns and all share the same function. The infant produces innate ‘social releaser’ behaviours such as crying and smiling that stimulate caregiving from adults. The determinant of attachment is not food but care and responsiveness.

Bowlby suggested that a child would initially form only one attachment and that the attachment figure acted as a secure base for exploring the world. The attachment relationship acts as a prototype for all future social relationships so disrupting it can have severe consequences.

The Main Points of Bowlby’s Attachment Theory:

1. Monotropy and attachment

A child has an innate (i.e. inborn) need to attach to one main attachment figure (i.e. monotropy).

Although Bowlby did not rule out the possibility of other attachment figures for a child, he did believe that there should be a primary bond or primary attachment figure which was much more important than any other (usually the mother).

Bowlby believes that this attachment is different in kind (qualitatively different) from any subsequent attachments. Bowlby argues that the relationship with the mother is somehow different altogether from other relationships.

Essentially, Bowlby suggested that the nature of monotropy (attachment defined as being a vital and close bond with just one attachment figure) meant that a failure to initiate, or a breakdown of, the maternal attachment would lead to serious negative consequences, possibly including affectionless psychopathy

Bowlby’s theory of monotropy led to the formulation of his maternal deprivation hypothesis. (this theory comes later)

2. Critical period

Bowlby believed in humans there was a critical period, during which the infant must form an attachment to a caregiver, starting at about 7 months of age, peaking at about 18 months and ending at about 2 to 3 years of age

If this ‘window of opportunity’ is missed, the ability to form emotional attachments is lost and this can predispose an individual to lasting problems in forming relationships.

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3. Continuity hypothesis

Bowlby believed that a ‘warm, intimate, continuous relationship with the mother…or permanent mother substitute’ was essential for healthy attachment to occur.

4. Internal working model

The relationship between caregiver and infant may be one of trust or uncertainty and inconsistency

It is a relationship which acts a template for future relationships in terms of beliefs and expectations about such relationships

The internal working model is a cluster of beliefs and concepts about relationships and what to expect from others – about whether relationships involve consistent or inconsistent love, whether others make you feel good and anxious.

Emotionally secure infants go on to be emotionally trusting and socially confident adults. This link between early attachment and later emotional behaviour is referred to as the continuity hypothesis.

Activity

1. What is attachment? Make reference to innate and imprinting.2. What is the role of social releasers in attachment?3. What is the fear of strangers?4. Outline the importance of monotropy and primary attachment in Bowlby’s theory.5. Explain maternal deprivation and its potential consequences6. What is the internal working model?

Evaluation of Bowlby’s (1946, 1956) Attachment Theory

The Strengths

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Lorenz’s research on goslings supports the view that imprinting is innate. A similar process is likely to have developed in other species such as humans in order to protect the young and enhance survival.

Hodges and Tizard found that children who had formed no attachments had later difficulties with peers. This supports Bowlby’s idea that it is difficult to form attachments once the sensitive period has passed.

Tronick et al studied the Efe tribe in Zaire. Efe infants are breast fed and cared for by other women in the extended family, but mainly sleep with their mother at night. Despite this type of child care arrangement the infants at six months still showed one primary attachment. This suggests that attachment has evolved, as Bowlby suggested, to provide an important biological function and seems to be universal despite different cultural child care practices as found in the Efe.

Bowlby accepted that infants form multiple attachments but these were hierarchical, with one attachment being the most important for development. Tronick’s (above) research supports this! Schaffer and Emerson found evidence for multiple attachments but the stronger attachment was not based on the time spent with the child but rather the nature of the attachment. This suggests that it is quality (sensitivity) rather than quantity of the attachment that is important.

Schaffer and Emerson observed that strongly attached individuals experienced mothers who responded quickly to their needs and who offered their child the most interaction. Poorly attached infants had mothers who failed to interact with them. Harlow’s monkeys formed only one-way attachments with the unresponsive ‘wire’ mother. They developed as poor parents themselves suggesting that caring interaction is at the centre of strong attachments.

The Minnesota longitudinal study followed P’s from childhood to late adolescence. Those classified as securely attached infants displayed greater empathy and social competence as adolescents. This appears to demonstrate the continuity hypothesis.

The Weaknesses

Bowlby’s ideas had a great influence on the way researchers thought about attachment and much of the discussion of his theory has focused on his belief in monotropy.

Although Bowlby may not dispute that young children form multiple attachments, he still contends that the attachment to the mother is unique in that it is the first to appear and remains the strongest of all. However, on both of these counts, the evidence seems to suggest otherwise.Schaffer & Emerson (1964) noted that specific attachments started at about 8 months and, very shortly thereafter, the infants became attached to other people. By 18 months very few (13%) were attached to only one person; some had five or more attachments.

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Rutter (1981) points out that several indicators of attachment (such as protest or distress when attached person leaves) has been shown for a variety of attachment figures – fathers, siblings, peers and even inanimate objects.

The continuity between early attachment and development can be explained without reference to Bowlby’s theory. Some individuals posses an innately trusting and friendly personality and this may be the prime factor in securing attachments and the development of close adult relationships. This is referred to as the temperament hypothesis and involves the idea that children form secure attachments because they have more ‘easy’ temperament, whereas innately ‘difficult’ children are more likely to form insecure attachments and later relationships.

Thomas and Chess (1977) suggest evidence for innate temperamental differences with the identification of three basic infant personality types: easy, difficult and slow-to-warm-up.

There are implications arising from Bowlby’s work. As he believed the mother to be the most central care giver and that this care should be given on a continuous basis an obvious implication is that mothers should not go out to work. There have been many attacks on this claim:

Mothers are the exclusive carers in only a very small percentage of human societies; often there are a number of people involved in the care of children, such as relations and friends (Weisner & Gallimore, 1977).

Ijzendoorn & Tavecchio (1987) argue that a stable network of adults can provide adequate care and that this care may even have advantages over a system where a mother has to meet all a child’s needs.

There is evidence that children develop better with a mother who is happy in her work, than a mother who is frustrated by staying at home (Schaffer, 1990).

Essay Exam Question

Psychologists have put forward different explanations of attachment, such as learning theory and Bowlby’s theory.Outline and evaluate one or more explanations of attachment. (12 marks)

Types of attachment and the strange situation

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Individual Differences in Attachment – Types of Attachment

The key researcher to remember when referring to different types of attachments is Mary Ainsworth (1913-1999). She was an American researcher who had a considerable influence on Bowlby’s thinking, and provided him with important empirical evidence for his theory. In terms of research methods, the principal method she used was the Observational Technique.

Types of attachment identified by Ainsworth

Secure attachment – this is a strong and contented attachment of an infant to his or her caregiver, which develops as a result of sensitive responding by the caregiver to the infant’s needs. Securely attached children are comfortable with social interaction and intimacy. Secure attachment is related to healthy subsequent cognitive and emotional development.

Insecure attachment – this is a form of attachment between infant and caregiver that develops as a result of the caregiver’s lack of sensitive responding to the infant’s needs. It may be associated with poor subsequent cognitive and emotional development. Insecure attachments can be split into two sub-types:

Insecure-avoidant style of attachment characterizes those children who tend to avoid social interaction and intimacy with others.

Insecure-resistant (ambivalent) attachment characterises those who both seek and reject intimacy and social interaction.

The Strange Situation – Devised by Ainsworth in 1969

Aim: to produce a method for assessing the quality of attachment by placing an infant in a situation of mild stress (to encourage the infant to seek comfort) and of novelty (to encourage exploration behaviour). Bothcomfort-seeking and exploration behaviour are indicators of the quality of attachment.

Procedures: Ainsworth used middle-class American infants (9 to 18 months) and their mothers in this procedure. A method of controlled observation was developed. This involved observing infants with their mothers during a set of predetermined activities (this is known as the strange situation). All the episodes of the strange situation, except the first one, took three minutes.

Episodes Behaviour Assessed

1. Parent and infant play -

2. Parent sits while infant plays Use of parent as secure base

3. Stranger enters and talks to parent Stranger anxiety

4. Parent leaves, infant plays, stranger offers Separation anxiety

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comfort if needed

5. Parent returns, greets infant, offers comfort if needed; stranger leaves

Reunion behaviour

6. Parent leaves, infant alone. Separation anxiety

7. Stranger returns and offers comfort Stranger anxiety

8. Parent returns, greets infant, offers comfort. Reunion behaviour

As can be seen, the observers recorded the infants' and mothers' behaviours, especially noting the following:

separation anxiety: the unease the infant showed when left by the caregiver stranger anxiety: the infant's response to the presence of a stranger reunion behaviour: the way the caregiver was greeted on return exploration behaviourFindings:Ainsworth et al. (1978) combined the data from several studies, to make a total of 106 middle-class infants observed in the strange situation.The observational record led Ainsworth et al. to classify the infants into three broad groups:

Securely attached (66%) - one group of infants tended to explore the unfamiliar room; they were subdued when their mother left and greeted her positively when she returned. The infants showed moderate avoidance of the stranger, although were friendly when the mother was present. The motherswere described as sensitive.

Insecure-avoidant (22%) - second group did not orientate to their mother while investigating the toys and room; they did not seem concerned by her absence and showed little interest in her when she returned. These infants also avoided the stranger, but not as strongly as they avoided the mother on her return. It was observed that these mothers sometimes ignored their infants.

Insecure-resistant (12%) – a third group showed intense distress, particularly when their mother was absent, but they rejected her when she returned. These infants showed ambivalent behaviour towards the stranger, similar to the pattern of resistance and interest shown to the mother onher return. These mothers appeared to behave ambivalently towards their infants.

Conclusions: This study shows that there are significant individual differences between infants

It also shows that most American children are securely attached

There appears to be a distinct association between the mother’s behaviour and the infant’s attachment type, which suggests that mother’s behaviour may be important in determining attachment type.

Evalutation: It would be unreasonable to make generalisations about all infant behaviour on the basis of

this sample. The study and its findings are restricted to middle-class American infants, i.e.

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are culturally biased. This is related to population validity.

The strange situation focuses on the relationship between the child and the mother. However a child’s significant attachment relationship may be with another care giver i.e. father, grandparents or child minder. This could question the validity of the strange situation. Reserchers in the 1980s noticed that children behave differently with different care givers. However Bowlby argued that it is the relationship with the primary attachment figure that becomes internalized so that it is a characterstic of the child. Attachment type is related to one special relationship.

The validity of the strange situation can be determined in terms of its construct validity. Other studies have identified the four attachment types; they are confirmed as distinctly different categories. Also predictive validity has been demonstrated in the correlations found between early attachment types and later behaviours (see Effects of Attchments below).

Reliability of the strange situation has been assessed using inter-rater reliability - comparing the ratings made by a panel of experienced judges Ainsworth et al. (1978) found almost perfect agreement when rating exploratory behaviour – they found .94 agreement between raters (1.00 would be perfect). (Refer to you notes on correlations).

Some people think it is unethical to place children in a stressful situation. Ainsworth said the situations were no more stressful than real life, but in episode six, 20% of the infants were reported to cry “desperately”.

Activities

1. Watch the simulation of the Strange Situation on YouTube (with baby Lisa). Can you identify the different steps in the procedure?

2. Can you identify three strengths and three weaknesses of Ainsworth’s work, referring to validity and reliability where possible?

Essay exam question

‘Psychologists such as Ainsworth have investigated secure and insecure attachment in young children.’ Outline and evaluate research studies related to types of attachment (12 marks)

Applied exam question

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Ainsworth developed a technique called the ‘strange situation’ to observe types of attachment. This technique consists of a number of different episodes involving a mother, an infant and a stranger.

a) Identify the research method used in this study and explain the reason for your answer. (4 marks)

b) Identify one ethical issue in this study and explain how a researcher might deal with it. (1 mark + 3 marks)

c) The infant’s behaviour was recorded using behavioural categories. Suggest two behavioural categories that could be used in this study. (2 marks)

d) A team of 3 observers recorded the behaviour of each infant. Explain why this would increase the reliability of the observations. (2 marks)

Effects of Attachment Type on Behaviour in later Childhood

A number of longitiudinal studies have demonstrated a link between early attachment experience and behaviour in later childhood. Here is a summary:

Secure attachment results in less emotional dependency, higher achievement orientation and interpersonal harmony.

Avoidant attachment is related to later aggressiveness and generally negative affect.

Resistant attachment is associated with greater anxiety and withdrawn behaviour.

Effects of Attachment Type on later Romantic Behaviour

In addition links have been found between early attachment type and later romantic behaviour. These are illustrated in the table below. Remember these just demonstrate correlations not causation.

Attachment Type Secure adults Insecure-avoidant adults

Insecure-resistant adults

Current love experiences

Relationships are positive

Fearful of closeness Preoccupied by love

Attitudes towards love

Trust others and believe in enduring

love

Love is not long lasting nor

necessary for

Fall in love easly but have trouble finding

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happiness true love

Maternal sensitivity scale versus Maternal reflective functioning

Ainsworth developed the Maternal Sensitivity Scale to rate mothers’ behaviours. She found key differences in maternal scores in the strange situation:

Secure attachment – mothers were more sensitive, accepting, cooperative and accessible.

Insecure attachment – mothers were unresponsive to crying and less affectionate.

Avoidant infants – mothers were more rejecting, paid less attention to infants when entering the room.

Resistant infants – mothers tended to be occupied with routine activities when holding the infant.

Other researchers have said it is maternal reflective functioning (the ability to understand what someone else is thinking and feeling) rather than sensitivity which may be the central mechanism in establishing attachment type.

Temperament Hypothesis

This hypothesis shifts the responsibility from the care giver and suggests that it is the temperamental characteristics of the infant which shapes the mother’s responsiveness. Suggested personality types are “easy”, “difficult” and “slow to warm up”. However the evidence for the influence of infant temperament on attachment relationships is uncertain.

Ainsworth and Bowlby

Ainsworth came to London and worked with Bowlby in the 1950s. Originally she did not support Bowlby’s point of view and favoured the learning theory explanation of attachment. However when visiting Uganda in 1954 she set about observing mother-infant interactions. She observed that some mothers were more sensitive to their children’s needs and these mothers tended to have more securely attached children who cried little and seemed to explore in the presence of their mother. Secure attachment led to increasing competence and independence (the “secure base”). Learning theory could not explain the importance of sensitivity in attachment, but Bowlby’s evolutionary theory could.

Therefore Ainsworth provided Bowlby with the concept of the attachment figure as a secure base from which an infant can explore the world, and pointed to the importance of maternal sensitivity in the development of mother-infant attachment patterns.

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Activities

1. How might the attachment type of an infant influence his/her future development?2. To what extent is the mother responsible for the attachment type of the infant?3. Does Ainsworth’s work support the learning theory or the evolutionary theory explanation

of attachment?

Applied exam question

Sophia has two children. The older child Thomas was always easy to look after and never minded if she left him with her husband or her own mother. However, Sophia’s younger son Edgar gets very agitated when left with anyone else and ignores his mother when she comes back.

a) What types of attachment are shown by Sophia’s two sons?

b) Using your knowledge of psychology, explain what may have caused the difference between the two boys.

Cultural variations in attachments20

Attachments do not just differ between individual babies. They may also vary systematically across cultures. This is not surprising, as people bring up their children very differently in different parts of the world and encourage them to develop different abilities and qualities. For example, Fox (1997) studied child-rearing practices in kibbutzim, communal farms in Israel. Here, babies are placed into communal childcare when they are around four days old and cared for by a nurse who is called a ‘metapelet’. The physical aspects of childcare such as feeding and nappy changing are carried out by the nurse and the parents visit the baby to play and cuddle, typically spending about three hours a day with their child after work. When they are around four months old, babies move to another nursery for older children and continue to be reared as a group together cared for by a nurse.

This approach to child-rearing shows important differences from those to which you may be accustomed. The child is likely to have less adult attention than in a family setting and much more contact with peers of similar ages. Both of these may be important influences on their attachments to parents and their later relationships.

Because of these variations in child-rearing practices, psychologists have been interested to see how babies vary between cultures in the type of attachment behaviours they show. Many of these studies have used the Strange Situation methodology devised by Ainsworth.

Research study: Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988)Two Dutch psychologists, Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg, carried out a meta-analysis in which they analysed the results of 32 separate studies carried out in eight different countries using Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’ to look at differences in attachment types both between and within cultures. In total, over 2,000 babies were studied making this a substantial piece of research. In each of these studies babies were classed using Ainsworth’s system as Type A, B or C. A table of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s findings is shown below.

Table 1. Comparisons of insecure and secure attachments in eight countries (adapted from Bee, 1995)

Country Number of studies

Secure (%)Type B

Avoidant (%)Type A

Resistant/Ambivalent (%) Type C

China 1 50.0 25.0 25.0Great Britain 1 75.0 22.2 2.8Japan 2 67.7 5.2 27.1Israel 2 64.4 6.8 28.8Netherlands 4 67.3 26.3 6.4Sweden 1 74.5 21.6 3.9US 18 64.8 21.1 14.1West Germany 3 56.6 35.3 8.1

Table 1 shows that there are large differences between cultures, which are likely to reflect the variation of approaches to child-rearing across cultures. Some of these differences are outlined below.

Secure attachments (Type B) were the most common in all the cultures surveyed. The lowest proportion of secure attachments (5%) was found in China and the highest (75%) in Great Britain and Sweden.

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Insecure avoidant attachments (Type A) were more common in West Germany than in other western countries. Avoidant attachments were rare in Israel and Japan.

Insecure resistant attachments, also known as ambivalent attachments (Type C) were more common in Israel, China and Japan. Scandinavian countries such as Sweden had the lowest rate of resistant attachments.

As well as differences between cultures, Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg also found differences within cultures. Their three studies carried out in West Germany showed very different findings. In the two Japanese studies, one had no Type A babies whereas the second had around 20%, which is roughly similar to Ainsworth’s original findings. Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg noted overall that the intra-cultural variation (within cultures) was nearly one-and–a-half-times the cross-cultural variation. These differences within cultures demonstrate the common-sense point that it is an over-simplification to assume that all children are brought up in exactly the same way in any particular country or culture.

Methodological issues

This is a substantial meta-analysis considering the attachment behaviours of a very large number of infants. A large sample size is needed in order to generalise findings to the rest of the population.

However, over half (18) of the 32 studies were carried out in the US reflecting the dominance by America in research in this area. Twenty-seven of the studies were carried out in individualistic cultures with only five taking place in collectivist cultures. This implies that the sample used may not be truly representative.

Ainsworth’s Strange Situation method for studying attachment was developed in America and may be most suited to studying attachment in this type of culture. Goldberg (2002) argues that we can only make valid interpretations of the Strange Situation in cross-cultural studies if we understand the attitudes to child-rearing in that culture.

How do these findings relate to child-rearing methods?

These results show that attachment types vary between and within different cultures. Babies are brought up in many different ways and different qualities may be encouraged in them depending on the values of the particular culture. The child’s reaction in the Strange Situation reflects the methods of child-rearing prevalent in that culture. For example in Japan, babies are very rarely separated from their mother which explains why Japanese babies tended to react most violently with tears when mother left, leading them to be classified as resistant. In contrast, babies brought up in Israel where they live in small groups and are rarely exposed to strangers, protested most violently when confronted with the stranger. Babies brought up in West Germany – where independence is highly valued and encouraged – showed little distress at separation, leading them to be classified as avoidant . It is important to recognise and understand cultural differences without necessarily assuming that the way babies are reared in one part of the world is somehow superior to

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others. Babies have probably evolved to be fairly flexible and able to thrive in a variety of different arrangements.

However, one recent study that demonstrates the need for babies to spend time with their attachment figures was carried out by Aviezer et al. (1994) with babies living in the kibbutz system in Israel. In an extensive review of the effects of communal rearing, Aviezer argued that the collective sleeping arrangements shown in kibbutzim, where babies and young children sleep together in large dormitories, may not be ideal for children overall and may be likely to lead to insecure resistant attachments. Following these findings, many kibbutzim are now changing this practice to make arrangements more family-like so children are cared for communally during the day but return to parents at night to sleep in the family house.

Activity

1. Explain which is the most common attachment type across all cultures.2. Give two examples of how differences in attachment types reflect child-rearing

practices.3. Explain one criticism of Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg’s meta-analysis.4. Summarise methodological criticisms of this meta-analysis research.

Essay exam question

Outline and evaluate research related to cultural variations in attachment. (12 marks)

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The effects of disruption of attachment, failure to form attachment (privation) and institutional care

Disruption of Attachment Maternal deprivation

A child should receive the continuous care of this single most important attachment figure for approximately the first two years of life.

Bowlby (1951) claimed that mothering is almost useless if delayed until after two and a half to three years and, for most children, if delayed till after 12 months, i.e. there is a critical period.

Indeed, the second quarter of the first year is when infant are most sensitive to the development to attachments. This is referred to as a sensitive period and is a biologically determined period of time.

If the attachment figure is broken or disrupted during the critical two year period the child will suffer irreversible long-term consequences of this maternal deprivation.

Bowlby used the term maternal deprivation to refer to the separation or loss of the mother as well as failure to develop an attachment.

The underlying assumption of Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis is that continual disruption of the attachment between infant and primary caregiver (i.e. mother) could result in long term cognitive, social, and emotional difficulties for that infant. The implications of this are vast – if this is true, should the primary caregiver leave their child in day care, whilst they continue to work?

Affectionless psychopathy

The consequences of maternal deprivation might include the following: delinquency, affectionless psychopathy and reduced intelligence.

Affectionless psychopathy is an inability to emphasise with other people.

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“mother love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health, as are vitamins and proteins for physical health”

Bowlby (1951)

“the infant and young child should experience a warm, intimate, and continuous relationship with his mother (or permanent mother substitute) in which both find satisfaction and enjoyment”

Bowlby (1951)

Bowlby claimed that there’s a critical period for attachment formation. Combined with his theory of monotropy, he proposed his ‘maternal deprivation hypothesis’ (MDH) in which he suggested that if the mother-infant was broken during this critical period it could permanently harm the child’s emotional and intellectual development. Separation of the child from its mother during this period for even a short time could cause the bond to break irretrievably.

Bowlby didn’t claim that this would happen to every child, but argued that as it was impossible to know which children would be affected no mother should take the risk and, as such, should never leave their child alone during the critical period.

The MDH was based largely on studies conducted on children being brought up in orphanages and residential nurseries during the 1930s and 1940s. Drawing on both his own work and that of other researchers, Bowlby presented his findings and theory to the World Health Organisation in 1951 (see quotes from the report above).

(You won’t be asked about MDH in the exam but it’s useful to know a little about it first, the following studies are important though)

So, what was the evidence that deprivation (or separation) of the mother was important?

Goldfarb (1943) studied 15 children raised in institutions (group 1) from about six months until three-and-a-half years of age. These children lived in almost total social isolation during their first year. They were matched with 15 children who’d gone straight from their natural mothers to foster homes (group 2).

At age three, group 1 lagged behind group 2 on measures of abstract thinking, social maturity, rule following and sociability. Between the ages of 10 and 14, group 1 continued to perform poorly, and their average IQs were significantly below that of group 2 (the scores were 72 and 95 respectively).

Goldfarb’s study is a natural experiment. What is meant by this term? (2 marks)

Goldfarb’s study is a natural experiment. What is meant by this term? (2 marks)

Identify one confounding variable with this study and explain why it is a problem.(3 marks)

Spitz (1945, 1946) studied children raised in some very poor-quality orphanages in South America. Staff were over-worked and poorly-trained, and rarely talked to the babies or picked them up, even for feeding. They were shown no affection and didn’t have any toys. The babies displayed ‘anaclitic depression’ (a reaction to the loss of a love object). The symptoms of this include weepiness, withdrawal, sadness, loss of appetite, weight loss, inability to sleep, fear, and ‘developmental retardation’.

In a further study, Spitz & Wolf (1946) studied 91 orphanage infants in Canada and the USA. Despite good nutrition and medical care over a third of them died before their first birthday.

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This was in comparison to a sample children raised by their mothers in prison, none of whom died and who showed higher IQs than the orphanage children. Bowlby later argued that these findings were due to the disruption of attachment bonds.

Evaluative Points

According to Bowlby, Goldfarb, Spitz and Wolf all of these institutions had one thing in common – namely a lack of maternal care. They argued that this was the crucial harmful experience on the children growing up in these places. However, there are a number of points of criticism that can be made concerning such research:

In Goldfarb’s study the children weren’t randomly assigned to the two conditions as they would be in a true experiment (this is a major weakness of natural experiments). It could be that the children in group 2 were brighter than those in group 1 which may have explained their higher IQ scores. Perhaps they were more sociable and healthy and that’s why they were fostered in the first place?

We also need to distinguish between deprivation (which refers to the loss through separation of the attachment figure) and privation (which refers to the situation where no attachment has been made in the first place). Rutter (1981) argues that some of these studies were actually demonstrating the effects of privation rather than deprivation and so were likely to yield more severe results.

Short-term Deprivation – Robertson & Robertson (1969)

By short-term we generally mean days or weeks rather than months or years and this type of deprivation occurs in instances such as temporary foster care while the child’s mother goes into hospital etc. In addition the child may go into hospital themselves and be separated from their parents in that way.

Robertson and Robertson made a series of films in the 1960s documenting how young children’s brief separation from their mothers affected their mental state and psychological development. The most famous and controversial of these films concerned a small boy called John. This little boy was separated from his mother for nine days and placed in a residential nursery after his mother had to go into hospital to have another child. He became increasingly distressed from day three, and when his mother finally arrived to collect him he struggled to get away from her and cried at her approach.

Bowlby (1969) described the components of distress in what became as the PDD model:

Component Details

Protest The immediate reaction to separation involves crying, screaming, kicking and generally struggling to escape, or clinging to the mother to prevent

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her from leaving. This is an outward, direct expression of the child’s anger, fear, bitterness and confusion. At this stage it is possible to distract and calm the child down (you might be familiar with this behaviour if you ever baby sit other peoples children!).

Despair The struggling and protest are eventually replaced by calmer behaviour. The child may seem apathetic, but still feels all the anger and fear etc. inwardly. The child keeps these feelings ‘locked up’ and may no longer expect the mother to return. The child hardly reacts to other people’s offers of comfort; instead preferring to comfort themselves, by rocking or thumb-sucking.

Detachment If the separation continues, the child begins to respond to people again – but everyone is treated alike, and rather superficially. When reunited with the mother, the child may have to ‘relearn’ its relationship with her, possibly even ‘rejecting’ her as she ‘rejected’ him/her.

Activity

Read through the article “Children in brief separation: John” by Richard Gross which is taken from ‘Psychology Review’, September 2004.

This study was both a case study and a naturalistic observation. Explain what is meant by these terms in the context of the John study and then give a strength and weakness of each method.

Outline the new environment that John found himself in. What were the other children like? Why do you think it’s a problem that no one nurse took responsibility for John’s care?

Looking through the day-by-day account of John’s behaviour, and referring to the table above, what were the behaviours that indicated that he was showing the signs of distress in Bowlby’s PDD model? When did each stage of despair occur?

Outline, in your own words, the conclusions drawn by the Robertsons.

Explain how, again in your own words, how this case both supported and challenged Bowlby’s MDH.

What was the positive outcome from all of this research?

Factors Influencing Distress in Separation/Deprivation

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Distress (especially protest and despair) can be thought of as an extreme display of attachment behaviour. Research indicates that separation is likely to be most distressing:

Between the ages of 7/8 months (when attachments are beginning to develop) and three years; Maccoby (1980) argued that there’s a peak at 12-18 months

For boys, although there are also individual differences within each gender If there have been any behaviour problems (such as aggressiveness) prior to the

separation If the relationship with the mother has been too close (although it’s debatable how

this could be judged!) If the child has never been separated from the mother before If there aren’t other attachment figures who can provide love and care in the

mother’s absence

Essay exam question

‘Some children fail to form attachments, which may have lifelong consequences. Disruption of attachment is more commonplace but could sometimes also have severe effects’

Outline and evaluate research into the disruption of attachment. (12 marks)

Applied exam question

a) Describe what research has shown about the effects of disruption of attachment. (4 marks)

b) Identify ONE ethical issue that has arisen in such research and explain why it is an issue. (3 marks)

Tracey and Darren are planning to go on holiday for two weeks and leave their baby with Tracey’s parents. Tracey studied psychology at school and is worried about the negative effects this may have on her baby.

c) Outline such possible effects (4 marks)d) What advice might Tracey give to her mother, based on her knowledge of

psychology, in order to avoid the negative effects. (4 marks)

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Failure to form attachment (privation) and institutional careDisruption of attachment is clearly associated with detrimental effects on children, and this has led attachment theorists to carry out further research into what happens if there is complete failure to form attachments. This is known as privation and can result from particular kinds of institutional care or isolation through neglect.

Research ActivityFind out about Hodges and Tizard’s (1989) research and answer the questions below;

Hint: ‘Hodges and Tizard: the impact of institutionalisation’ by Richard Gross, which is taken from the ‘Psychology Review’, September 2001

1.Explain, in your own words, what is meant by the terms ‘longitudinal study’ and ‘cross-sectional study’:2.This study is a ‘natural experiment’. What is meant by this term?3.What are the experimental variables?IVDV“On leaving care between the ages of 2 and 7, the children were either adopted or returned to their own families. The institutions they grew up in provided good physical care and appeared to provide adequate intellectual stimulation. However, staff turnover was high…”4.Why might this be a problem?5.Outline the findings at age 8 in your own words:6.Outline the findings at age 16 in your own words:7.How did both of these groups of children differ from a control group of children who had not been institutionalised?8.Explain the conclusions of these studies in your own words:

EvaluationThe findings are ‘theoretically rich’. The data both support and contradict Bowlby’s MDH. For example, they suggest that there may be a critical period for the formation of attachments to peers, but there may not be one for forming attachments to adults.9.What issues arise from the fact that this is a natural experiment?10.Outline what is meant by ‘attrition’ and explain why it’s a problem:11.What issues arise from the use of questionnaires in terms of validity and reliability?Key Terms:

Institutionalisation Refers to the behaviour patterns of children who have been raised in institutions such as orphanages or children’s homes. In institutions children may have relationships with a variety of staff. However, they may not have a one-to-one attachment in the same way as a child raised in a family.

Disinhibited attachment A behaviour pattern shown by some children who have been raised in institutions. Key features include attention-seeking behaviour towards all adults, even strangers, a lack of fear of strangers, making inappropriate physical contact with adults and a lack of checking back to parental figures in stressful situations.

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Privation and isolation

Irreversible damage

Curtiss (1977) reported on the case of Genie, who had been isolated, imprisoned and neglected by her father until the age of 13. Her development then resembled that of a 6 year old, and her social and language skills remained severely retarded in spite of good fostering and attempts to teach her. This suggests that the effects of privation are irreversible.

Recovery is possible

Koluchova (1972) studied Czech twin boys whose mother died in 1960 when they were born. They were well cared for by a children’s agency, and then an aunt, before going to live, at 18 months of age, with their father and stepmother, who isolated and severely neglected them. When they were discovered, aged 7 years, they were retarded intellectually, physically, socially and emotionally. At the age of 8 years, they were fostered by two sisters whose high quality care enabled them to recover, so that, by the age of 14, they were in mainstream school and had normal IQs. In adulthood, they married and had families, and neither of them seemed to suffer long-term adverse effects. This suggests that adverse early experience can be overcome even if the sensitive period for attachment is missed. (good-quality early care and peer-bonding?)

Timing is important

Rutter et al (2007) carried out a longitudinal study of Romanian orphans who suffered privation until being adopted. Those who were adopted before 6 months of age developed as normally as a comparison group of UK adopted children when followed up at 4,6 and 11 years of age. Those adopted after 6 months however, showed indiscriminate attachments to adults and had problems relating to peers, suggesting that the timing of intervention can affect a child’s prognosis.

Can children recover from institutionalisation and privation?

Studies on privation suggest that children can recover from adverse early experiences. However, the extent of recovery depends on a number of factors.

The quality of care at the institution: Dontas et al. (1985) carried out two studies on babies in a Greek orphanage to see if institutionally raised children could develop attachments in the normal way. In one study, they looked at 15 babies aged between seven and nine months (the important age that Bowlby suggests attachments are formed). Each child had been given a member of staff to care specifically for them and had formed an attachment with their carer. Dontas visited them two weeks after

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they had been adopted and found that the babies had adjusted well and had started to form attachments to their new carers. In a second study at the institution, 16 babies aged between five and twelve months were observed playing with familiar and unfamiliar peers of a similar age. As in the above study, each of the babies had been able to form an attachment with a carer at the children’s home. Their play behaviour showed none of the apparent effects of institutionalisation such as indiscriminate attention seeking that had previously been noted in Tizard and Hodges’ study. This research shows how important it is for children in institutions to be able to develop attachments to staff at the normal age of between seven and eight months.

The age of the child when removed from privation or institutionalisation: children who are removed from privation when still young, such as the Romanian orphans adopted under six months, tend to make better developmental progress both cognitively and emotionally than those who have experienced privation for longer.

The quality of care after privation/institutionalisation: children are likely to do best when they are placed in a loving and supportive environment as is shown in the research by Koluchova (1972, 1991).

The follow-on experiences in later life: there is evidence to suggest that adult experiences and relationships can go some way towards repairing early adverse circumstances. Quinton & Rutter (1984, 1988) compared two groups of women in their twenties – half had been in care for several years in their childhood. The ‘care group’ was more likely to have relationship breakdowns, criminal records and more difficulties with parenting their children compared to the non-care group. But those women in the care group who had positive experiences at school and later good relationships or marriages fared much better. The researchers argued that this shows that the early effects of institutionalisation can be overcome if they are followed by good experiences in later life.

Essay exam questions

Failure to form attachments is known as privation.Outline and evaluate research into privation. (12 marks)

Psychologists have studied children who have lived in institutions such as orphanages. Outline and evaluate research into the effects of institutionalisation. (12 marks)

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