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attachment, hasn't been examined yet: …
attachment
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Bowlby monotropic theory
Internal working model
- a child forms a mental representation of their relationship with their primary caregiver
- a child who's first experience is of a loving relationship with a reliable caregiver will form an expectation that all relationships are like this
- however a child who's first experience with poor treatment will then tend to form a poor relationship in the future
- it has an effect on a child's later ability to become a parent later on and explains why their childhood has impacted their adulthood life
social releasers
- babies are born with a set of innate cute behaviours to encourage attention from adults
- this is a reciprocal process, where the mother and the infant become attached and have innate predispositions
monotropy
- emphasis on a child's attachment to one particular caregiver and that this attachment is different and more important than with others
- believed that the more time the baby spent with their mother figure, the better
- two principles to clarify:
the law of continuity - the more predictable a child's care, the better the quality of their attachment
the law of accumulated separation
Evaluation
Strength = support for internal working models - a researcher tested the idea that the pattern of attachment will be passed on from one generation to the next
- they found that the mothers who reported poor attachment tot heir own parents were more likely to have children with poor attachment too
Limitation = role of the father
- if a mother is absent from a baby's life then a father will take on the responsibility and will become the primary care giver
- not about the gender, it's about the responsiveness of the person
Strength = support for social releasers
- a researcher observed the interactions between a baby and it's mother, showed the existence of interactional synchrony
- found that the baby's showed some distress, but when attachment figure ignored the baby, they curled up and were motionless
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Romanian orphan studies
rutter study
- followed a group of Romanian orphans in Britain to see what extent good care could make up for poor early experiences in institutions
- physical, cognitive and emotional development was assessed at the ages 4, 6, 11 and 15
findings: they first showed signs of delayed intellectual development and most were severely undernourished
- children adopted before the age of 6 months had a mean IQ of 102, however those adopted between 6 months and 2 years had 86 and those 2 years above had 77
- those adopted before the age of 6 months showed barely any signs of disinhibited attachment compared to those older who did
institutionalisation
- the effects of living in an institutional setting such as a place like a hospital or orphanage
- there is very little emotional care provided and have effects on child development and attachment
Evaluation
strength = real world application - it has improved psychologists understanding of the effects of institutional care and jhow to prevent them
- example being children growing up in the care system
Limitation = lacks data on adult development
- there is no data answering what the long term effects of early institutional care has on people
- will take a long time because it has to be a longitudinal design
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attachment figures
the role of the father
grossman (2002) = looked at parents behaviour and the quality of their relationship of their child's attachment going into their teens
- study suggests that the father attachment was less important
- however the fathers role in attachment is seen to be more with play and stimulation and not with nurturing
father as primary carer
- evidence suggest that when fathers do take this role on, they adopt behaviours that have been associated with mothers
- Field (1978) study shows that fathers can be the more nurturing attachment figure
- its not about the gender of the parent, its about the responsiveness of them
evaluation
limitations = inconsistent findings on fathers
- some psychologists are interested in understanding the father role as a secondary attachment
- others are concerned about the father as a primary attachment figure
- psychologists can't asker a simple question about the role of the father
Learning theory
Operant conditioning
- learning a repeat behaviour depending on the outcome
- if a behaviour produces a pleasant consequence then the behaviour is more likely to be repeated
- if a behaviour produces an unpleasant consequence , then it is less likely to be repeated
- positive and negative reinforcement
Classical conditioning
- learning to associate two stimuli together so that the same response is given to each stimuli
- food --> unconditioned stimulus
- being fed gives pleasure --> unconditioned response
- caregiver --> neutral stimulus
- caregiver provides the baby with food over time they become associated with food, so neutral stimulus --> conditioned stimulus
- caregiver produces --> conditioned response
Evaluation
Limitations = lacks support from animal studies
- Lorenz's geese imprinted before they were fed and maintained an attachment meaning that young animals don't necessarily attach to those who feed them
Limitations = lacks support from human research
- feeding doesn't appear to be an important factor in humans
- Schaffer and Emerson's study shows that feeding isn't a key element to attachment
Strength = a newer learning theory explanation
- the social learning theory is based off of the idea that social behaviour is acquired because of modelling and imitation
- Hay and Vespo newer explanation
hasn't been examined yet:
- multiple attachments
- maternal deprivation hypothesis
- Romanian orphan study
examined 2017: - caregiver and infant interactions
- stages of attachment
- types of attachment
- cultural variations
- effects of institutionalisation
examined 2022:
- Lorenz and Harlow
- Bowlby monotropic theory
- cultural variations
- influence of early attachment on later adulthood
Possibilities:
- caregiver and infant interac
- stages of attachment
- multiple attachments
- role of father
- maternal deprivation
- Romanian orphans
- effects of institutionalisation