(education management) - infobaseclassical, operant conditioning and social learning theory. this is...

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

This program is excellent for a wide range of training purposes for foster carers, parents groups, child minders, social work and for those people who work with children. It is also an excellent resource for under-graduate and post graduate studies in both academic and applied psychology. Attachment is a staple part of A level psychology specifications and this resource includes both historical and current research methods and models of attachment behaviour. It is therefore an excellent resource for both A level and vocational courses in Health and Social Care.

Duration of resource: 26 Minutes

Year of Production: 2013

Stock code: VEA12071

Resource written by:

Irene Matthews BSc (Hons) Psychology, PGCE, Advanced Certificate in Counselling, Dip Ed (Education Management)

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© VEA Group Pty Ltd 2013 Reproducing these support notes

You may download and print one copy of these support notes from our website or ClickView for your reference. Further copying or printing must be reported to CAL as per the Copyright Act 1968.

For Teachers

Introduction What is an attachment? There are a number of definitions offered by different psychologists. Two of these are: Schaffer (1993) ‘A close emotional relationship between two persons, characterised by mutual affection and a desire to maintain proximity.’ Similarly, Maccoby (1980) describes four characteristics of an attachment: 1. Seeking proximity, the desire to be close to the person to whom you are attached. 2. Separation anxiety, the distress that results from being separated from that person. 3. Pleasure when reunited, relief and joy when reunited with them. 4. General orientation of behaviour towards the caregiver, the child’s awareness of where the person is,

and the reassurance they feel by being close to them. Why do we form attachments? Psychologists find it useful to look at both the short term and the long term benefits. Short term benefits: Most species come into the world unable to fend for themselves so require a great deal of assistance in the early stages of life. This is particularly true of the human infant. Forming a close attachment with a caregiver ensures that the offspring will be fed, protected from harm and educated in order to help it survive. It seems likely that attachment behaviour is innate. It is also worth considering that it is also in the interests of the parent(s) to protect their offspring from harm. In evolutionary terms they, particularly the mother, have invested a lot of time and energy producing offspring therefore providing nurturance, both physical and emotional and protection from harm, means that the offspring will themselves grow to maturity and reproduce, thus ensuring survival of the species. It therefore seems likely that adults also have an innate tendency to form attachments with their offspring. Long term benefits: Bowlby (1969) proposed that early attachments provide a template, a set of expectations that allow us to build other attachments later in life. He called this template the ‘internal working model.’ Therefore attachment enables us to form an emotional bond that we use later in life as a basis for other attachments. . How do attachments develop? 1. Imprinting as proposed by Konrad Lorenz: This research comes from the work of ethologists on non-human animals, particularly birds. Early ethologists claimed that attachments will only form during a critical period and if no attachment is formed then it will never form. The most famous examples of this research show birds forming attachments to the first thing they see upon hatching. Ethologists refer to this as imprinting. Imprinting has the following characteristics:

• It occurs during a critical period: With ducklings the strongest tendency, according to Lorenz, is between 13 and 16 hours after emerging from the egg. If no attachment has developed within 32 hours it is unlikely any attachment will ever develop.

• It is irreversible: Once the bond is formed it cannot be broken.

• It has consequences: Both for short term survival and in the longer term for forming ‘templates’ for later relationships.

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Evidence: Konrad Lorenz (1935) split a clutch of goose eggs. Half were hatched by their mother and the rest were placed in an incubator with Lorenz being the first thing they saw on hatching. This second group started to follow Lorenz everywhere and became distressed if they were separated from him. Criticisms: Guiton et al (1966) however disagreed with the irreversible nature of imprinting. They imprinted yellow rubber gloves onto newly hatched chickens. In line with what Lorenz predicted, they tried to mate with the gloves when they reached sexual maturity, however when they spent time with their own species they showed a preference for mating with them instead. Most criticisms of the imprinting and the critical period theory however, are based on its application to humans. There are obvious problems when generalising from animal studies to humans, particularly those animals lower on the phylogenetic scale such as birds, compared to humans. Some animals are precocial, in that they are able to fend for themselves very quickly after birth so do not need the same level of protection and nurturance by parents. It is for these reasons that the idea of a ‘sensitive period’ for attachment, rather than a critical period, has been proposed for human attachment. Indeed Bowlby argued that our need to form attachments is innate and occurs in the sensitive period between the ages of 1 and 3 years. Sluckin (1965) believes that the sensitive period is a time when a young animal is most likely to form an attachment, but that such responses can be learned at any stage in life. 2. Skin to skin hypothesis: Klaus and Kennel (1976) looked at two groups of newly born infants:

• Group one were allowed contact with mother during feeding in the first 3 days

• Group two were allowed extended contact with mother lasting several hours a day One month later mothers in group two were found to cuddle their babies more and make greater eye contact. The effects were still noticeable a year later. Klaus and Kennel believed that this showed that greater contact led to stronger and closer bond formation between mother and child. This research led to a change in social policy with hospitals encouraged to have mothers and infants together in the days following birth rather than the previous tendency to keep them apart. Also fathers are encouraged to be present at the birth so that they too can form an early attachment Evaluation: Durkin (1995) pointed out that most of the mothers were unmarried and from poor families so results may be difficult to generalise to the general population. Perhaps too, the fact that an experiment was going on may lead to changes in behaviour of the mothers. However, De Chateau et al (1987) repeated the procedure on middle class Swedish mothers and found very similar results. 3. Behaviourist (learning theory) explanations of attachment. The behaviourist account is made up of classical, operant conditioning and social learning theory. This is sometimes known as ‘cupboard love’ theory as attachment is based on food and feeding. According to behaviourists, behaviour is not innate but learned. Learning can be due to associations being made between different stimuli (classical conditioning) or behaviour can be altered by patterns of reinforcement (reward) and punishment (operant conditioning). Neo-behaviourists such as the Social Learning theorists suggest that we learn by watching others. Social learning theory states that when we see others being reinforced or punished for their actions we are more likely to imitate this behaviour. Operant conditioning: Dollard and Miller (1950) suggested that attachment is due to drive reduction. Hunger and cold have a strong motivating affect on the child, driving the child to satisfy its need for example by eating or seeking warmth. Obtaining food or warmth results in drive reduction which in itself provides reward for the child. Hunger and cold (discomfort) are referred to as primary drives and food and warmth are primary reinforcers. The person supplying the food and warmth (usually the mother) becomes associated with the food and warmth and acts as a secondary reinforcer. Therefore attachment occurs because the child wants the person providing the food and warmth. Likewise when the child cries, this acts as a negative reinforcer for the mother to feed and comfort their child, therefore the mother also learns by trying to avoid an unpleasant stimulus (i.e. the baby crying).

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Classical conditioning: This offers a similar but simplified explanation of how food provides attachment. The child simply associates food and mother together, just like Pavlov’s dogs associated the bell and food together. In Pavlovian terms:

• Food is an unconditioned stimulus that produces an unconditioned response (pleasure).

• At the outset, mother is a neutral stimulus who produces no response. However, because she is continually paired with the unconditioned stimulus (food) she slowly becomes associated with it until eventually mother alone can produce pleasure.

• Mother has now become a conditioned stimulus and the pleasure she brings is a conditioned response.

Evaluation: As always the behaviourist explanation is reductionist because it takes a complex human behaviour and tries to explain it in the simplest terms possible. It does not consider any internal processes or seek to explain the emotional nature of attachments simply how they arise as behaviours. Social Learning Theory (SLT) This is similar to learning theory, in that both emphasise the role of reinforcement (an action that is rewarded being more likely to be repeated). However, SLT particularly emphasises the role of imitation. We watch others and if they are rewarded for their behaviour we are likely to copy it ourselves. Hay and Vespo (1988) suggested that attachments develop because parents teach their children to love them. This can be achieved in three ways: 1. Modelling: children copy the affectionate behaviour that they see between their parents. 2. Direct instruction: parents teach their children to be affectionate. 3. Social facilitation: parents watch their children and encourage appropriate behaviours. Evaluation: However, Durkin (1995) does not believe that SLT can explain the intensity of emotion that the attachment produces. However, the theory can be said to be influential in that it has stimulated a lot of research into the interactions that take place between parents and their children. In order to test if learning is responsible for attachment Harry Harlow’s (1959) study: ‘The origins of love.’ used rhesus monkeys in his research into learning and noticed that many of the young monkeys kept in isolation became distressed when he cleaned out their cages. It seemed that the monkeys were forming an attachment to the towels he used to line their cages. Aim: To find out whether food or comfort was more important in developing attachments. Method: Harlow carried out a number of variations using sixteen young isolated monkeys. Some were kept in cages with a ‘surrogate mother’ made of wire and another softer one covered in Terry cloth. Findings: Harlow noticed that the monkeys would spend most time clinging to the cloth mother and occasionally feeding from the wire mother. When the monkeys were stressed by a mechanical toy banging a drum the monkeys would always run to the cloth ‘mother’ for safety and not to the one with food Conclusion: The evidence suggests that attachment is based not on ‘cupboard love’, i.e. the provision of food but on contact comfort.

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Evaluation: There are also serious ethical issues with this study in that the young of an intelligent species were reared in isolation and not allowed to form attachments with their own species. These monkeys grew up unable to socialise with other members of their species and were bullied as a result. Clearly because Harlow used monkeys it is difficult to generalise the findings and conclusions to humans. However, Schaffer and Emerson (1964) also found that babies didn’t always form attachments with the food provider. In this study (Schaffer and Emerson) found that 39% of the babies formed their first attachment with someone other than the person who fed them. This suggests that food therefore is not the main requirement for forming attachments as the behaviourists suggest. 4. Bowlby’s theory of attachment: It is impossible to study attachment and child development without considering Bowlby’s work. His theories on both attachment and maternal deprivation have been some of the most influential on the topic. Bowlby worked for many years as a child psychoanalyst so was clearly influenced by Freud’s theories as well as child development. He was also influenced by the work of Lorenz on the innate nature of bonds through imprinting. Bowlby combined these two very different ideas to produce his own evolutionary theory of attachments. Bowlby believed that attachment is innate and adaptive. We are all born with an inherited need to form attachments and this helps us to survive. Darwin’s theory of natural selection states that any behaviour that helps you survive to maturity and reproduce yourself will be maintained in the gene pool. As the new born human is helpless it has to rely on the mother to ensure its survival. Therefore the mother also inherits a genetic blueprint that predisposes her to loving her offspring. Bowlby proposed that an attachment promotes survival in 3 ways: 1. Safety: attachment keeps mother and child close to each other. Separation results in feelings of

anxiety. 2. Safe base for exploration: the child is happy to wander and explore knowing it has a safe place to

return. This also develops the child’s cognitive development and independence necessary in later life. 3. Internal working model: This was based on Freud’s idea of the mother-child relationship acting as a

prototype for all future attachments. Bowlby believed that this first relationship forms a template that gives the child an understanding of what a relationship is. It uses this in future years to develop other relationships as well as determining its parenting skills in later life.

Other aspects of the theory: Sensitive period – The innate aspect of his theory, Bowlby believed there would be a period in which they were most likely to develop, similar to the critical period for imprinting. However, unlike a critical period (the only time in which an attachment may form), a sensitive period suggests a time when they are most likely to occur. Bowlby believed that for the human infant this was between the fourth and sixth month. Irreversibility - Once made the attachment cannot be broken. Social releasers: Bowlby proposes that the child has built in mechanisms for encouraging care-giving behaviour from parents. For example, children have ‘baby faces’ and their noises and facial expressions such as smiles encourage contact. It is proposed that adults are genetically primed to respond to these releasers by offering care and affection. Continuity hypothesis: The internal working model ensures that early attachments are reflected in later relationship types. For example, a secure attachment as a child leads to greater emotional and social stability as an adult, whereas an insecure attachment is likely to lead to difficulties with later relationships.

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Monotropy: This refers to a child having a special bond with one person, however, Bowlby did not actually believe that only one attachment is formed, rather that there was only one primary attachment. He also did not believe that the main attachment had to be the mother, saying that his words ‘maternal’ and ‘mothering’ were not intended to mean mother! Bowlby (1969) claimed that there was a hierarchy of attachments, with a primary caregiver, usually the mother at the top. This has been supported by cross cultural studies such as The Efe, an African tribe who share the care of their children so that women in the village breast feed each other’s children. However, the infants still go on to form their primary attachment with their biological mother. Evaluation: Bowlby overlooked relationships with others. Schaffer and Emerson’s (1964) study found that nearly a third of infants had five or more attachments by the age of 18 months. Aim: To find the age at which attachments start and to measure the intensity of these attachments. Method: 60 babies from a working class area of Glasgow were studied. They were observed every four weeks for the first year and then again at 18 months. They measured strength of attachment by: 1. Separation anxiety: how distressed the child becomes when separated from the main caregiver (which

suggests an attachment has been formed) 2. Stranger anxiety: distress showed when the child is left alone with an unfamiliar person (which

suggests that the child can recognise familiar and unfamiliar people). Findings: The first specific attachment was formed by 50% of infants between 25 and 32 weeks. Intensity peaked in the first month following the onset of the first attachment. Multiple attachments began soon after the first attachment had been formed. By 18 months 31% had five or more attachments, e.g. to grandparents, siblings etc. Evaluation: Since babies were observed in their own homes (a natural environment) we can assume that the study is high in ecological validity; the findings can be generalised to the real world. However, accuracy of data collection by parents who were keeping daily diaries could be questioned. Thomas (1998) states that children benefit from a variety of attachment styles provided by different caregivers, so for example an attachment to a father figure will provide benefits to the child that a mother alone could not provide. In Caribbean and European culture, infants seem to form many equally important attachments to different people. Bowlby’s theory has been very influential. It has been widely studied with some researchers agreeing, some suggesting modifications. It has been widely applied in practical situations, particularly in hospitals, children’s homes and fostering policy. However, Bowlby seems to only concentrate on the role of the mother and neglects the father believing them to be of little significance. Later research has shown that the father can play a useful role and Lamb (1983) suggests that often children prefer the rough and tumble play they get with the father. Research for the internal working model is not clear cut. Zimmerman et al (2000) assessed attachment style of children ages 12 to 18 months and then in a longitudinal study checked again at the age of 16 years (using interviews to determine the relationship the child had with its parents). Results showed that early attachment style was not a good predictor of later relationships and also discovered that life events such as parental divorce had a much greater impact. Therefore a poor early start can be overcome by positive experiences at school and good adult relationships (Rutter & Quinton, 1988). When evaluating, it is also possible to pick up essential marks for discussing methodology. For example: Self selecting sample: the participants volunteered after reading an advert in a newspaper. This is a poor way of selecting participants since you are not getting a cross section of the public.

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Questionnaire: People tend to suffer from social desirability effects, particularly on issues of relationships, where they are more likely to want to make themselves look good. Retrospective: Memory of past events is not reliable, so it seems unlikely that people’s memory of their childhood experiences will be accurate. Cause and effect: Researchers have shown a relationship between early attachments and later ones assume that childhood experience has caused the adult experience. However, other factors could be involved. Kagan (1984) for example suggested the temperament hypothesis. This states that children with a pleasant disposition are more likely to form warm relationships with parents and later in life, assuming they maintain their ‘niceness’. They are more likely to form more loving relationships than those children with a ‘less nice’ disposition. Types of attachment - insecure and secure attachment. This looks at how:

• Individuals differ in the types of attachment they form

• Different cultures influence the types of attachment we form The Strange Situation This is a method devised by Ainsworth and Bell to measure the type of attachment that a child has formed. The experiment is set up in a small room with one way glass so the behaviour of the child can be observed. Children were aged between 12 and 18 months. Each phase of the procedure lasts 3 minutes and a session progresses as follows:

• Parent (or caregiver) enters room with child, child explores for 3 minutes

• A Stranger enters and joins the parent and infant, talks to mother

• Parent leaves the infant with the stranger

• Parent returns and the stranger leaves. Parent settles the infant

• Parent leaves again

• Stranger returns

• Parent returns and stranger leaves. In all, the stranger enters on average eight times, more if the child is okay, less if it is showing signs of distress. Throughout the procedure the child is observed by a team of researchers who make notes every 15 seconds about the following behaviours:

• Proximity and contact-seeking behaviours

• Proximity and contact-maintaining behaviours

• Interaction-avoiding behaviours

• Contact and interaction-resisting behaviours

• Search behaviours To get more reliable results Ainsworth and her co-workers combined the results of several studies so that a total of 106 different child observations were included in the final report. This combining of studies is called a meta-analysis. These observations enabled Ainsworth to judge the child’s reaction to the following three variables:

• Separation anxiety: how the child reacts when mother leaves

• Stranger anxiety: how the child reacts to being alone with a stranger

• Reunion behaviour: how the child behaves when mother returns

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Findings and conclusions: from her observations Ainsworth concluded that there were three types of attachment.

Secure attachment Insecure-Resistant Insecure-Avoidant

Separation anxiety Distressed when mother leaves

Infant shows signs of intense distress

Infant shows no sign of distress when mother leaves

Stranger anxiety

Stranger is able to offer some comfort

Infant avoids the stranger

Infant is okay with the stranger and plays normally when stranger is present

Reunion behaviour

Runs to mother and greets her enthusiastically

Child approaches mother but resists contact, may even push her away

Infant shows little interest when mother returns.

Other Infant cries more and explores less than the other 2 types

Mother and stranger are able to comfort infant equally well

% of infants 70 15 15

However, after reviewing a further 200 tapes of children in the strange situation Main and Solomon (1986) added a fourth type of attachment that they referred to as ‘disorganised.’ The infant’s behaviour is not consistent and shows signs of indecisiveness and confusion. Sometimes the child will freeze or rock back and forth. Evaluation of the Strange Situation Subsequent studies that have used the 'Strange Situation' have found it to be reliable and valid.

Reliability refers to whether you can produce the same results if tested again. (It is sometimes referred to as consistency).

Validity refers to the extent to which the 'Strange Situation' actually measures what it is supposed to measure – how truthful it is. Reliability of the 'Strange Situation' was demonstrated by Main, Kaplan and Cassidy (1985): They tested babies at 18 months and then retested them at 6 years of age. They found that 100% of the secure babies were still classified as secure and 75% of the avoidant babies were still under the same classification. This is called test-retest reliability and checks for consistency over time. Ainsworth herself also tested inter-rater reliability (the extent to which different observers score behaviour in a similar way). This was also found to be very high. Validity of the 'Strange Situation': Some critics have argued that the strange situation only measures the relationship between the child and one other person (usually the mother) so rather than measuring attachment type it is simply measuring the relationship. Assuming that Bowlby was right about the internal working model and if this test is valid then we should be able to use its findings to predict the future stability of a child’s relationships. In other words, secure attachments in childhood should result in more stable adult relationships. However, different researchers have reached different conclusions: Sroufe (1983) found support for its validity. Infants that were rated as secure went on to become more popular, have higher self esteem, and be social leaders. However, Bates, et al (1985) disagreed. They claimed that early attachment styles did not predict the presence of behaviour problems at 3 years of age. Main and Weston (1981) found that children behaved differently depending on which parent they were with. This suggests that attachment type is not consistent.

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Other issues with the strange situation The test was devised by Ainsworth in the USA using American children. The test is therefore culturally biased. Desirable attachments in the USA may not be seen as desirable elsewhere. Nevertheless the test has been used worldwide and used to judge infants in other cultures. This is an example of imposed etic when we create a theory, test or construct in one culture (usually Western) and impose it on the rest of the world! The strange situation also seems to exaggerate behaviours. Children over-react when placed in the strange situation so do not behave as they would normally in the real world. Finally Ainsworth is criticised for over-simplification in her belief that children can be categorised into only three groups. Other studies have suggested that there are big individual differences between children within each attachment group. Explaining the different attachment types: Sensitive responsiveness: Ainsworth herself believed that the kind of attachment the child develops is due entirely to the mother. Secure children have mothers who respond appropriately to the child’s needs by picking up on the signals. Insecure children on the other hand have mothers that are less responsive and the attachments they develop are coping strategies that enable them to deal with this lack of response. Research into Mind-Mindedness is extending this work and features particularly in the program. Temperament hypothesis: Perhaps the reason for a relationship between early attachment and later relationships has nothing to do with the type of attachment formed. Kagan (1984) believed that the temperament of the child is important. Those who are naturally good at forming relationships do so early in life and form close relationships with parents and this is true later in life as well; because of their pleasant temperament they are more popular with people in later life too. Thomas and Chess (1977) thought that children were born with a certain personality type and suggested three main categories:

• Easy: eat and sleep regularly and accept new experiences (under 50%)

• Difficult: eat and sleeping a problem, as is accepting anything new or different (10%)

• Slow to warm up: Take a while to get new to new experiences (15%) ‘Easy’ babies go on to form secure attachments. Slow to warm up babies require a lot more encouragement so will only form secure attachments with patient mothers. Belsky and Rovine (1987) found that babies in the first few days of life have certain physiological characteristics that seemed to match later attachment styles. Calmer and less anxious children at this age were more likely to develop secure attachments a few months later. Cross cultural studies: This looks at the kind of attachment formed and any variation between cultures depending upon the child rearing techniques. As you know Ainsworth carried out most of her research in the USA but others have found broad agreement with her findings in other parts of the World. However, there are exceptions: Van Iijzendoorn and Kroonenberg (1988) carried out a meta-analysis combining the findings of 32 other studies of the strange situation from a variety of countries, based on the observations of over 2000 children. Findings: The most notable finding was the similarity in types of attachment across most countries. Secure attachment is the norm in the overwhelming majority of cultures.

Country Secure Resistant Avoidant

Israel 62% 33% 5%

Japan 68% 32% Nil

German 40% 11% 49%

However Germany has a high percentage of avoidant attachments and both Israel and Japan a much higher than normal percentage of resistant

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Evaluation: Despite the large number of studies combined in this meta-analysis over half (18 of the 32) were still US (an individualistic society). Only five of the 32 were carried out in collectivist cultures. We also have the issue of imposed etic. The ‘strange situation’ was designed by an American, using American children for use on other Americans. Many researchers have therefore questioned whether it can possibly be suitable for testing children from other cultures. Ainsworth assumed that separation anxiety was an indication of secure attachment and this may be the case in some westernised countries such as Britain and the USA. However, separation anxiety in other societies and cultures may represent other factors. The strange situation may therefore not always be a suitable measure of attachment and may in fact be culturally specific. Rothbum et al (2000) suggest that although the need for protection appears to be universal (the same across all cultures) other factors differ. They believe psychologists should be working at an emic not etic level, producing theories of attachment tailored to fit each individual culture. For example, the Japanese have the concept of ‘amae’ (depending on another’s love) which according to Doi (1973) leads to a sense of oneness between mother and child. This might explain why so many infants develop a more clingy resistant attachment style and become so distressed when separated from their mum. Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg report that differences in attachment within a culture are far greater than those found between cultures. They conclude that it is wrong to think of everyone in a culture having the same child rearing practices. Within a culture there are many sub-cultures, all with their own way of rearing children. These may be ethnically or racially based but also may be class specific, for example in the UK the so called ‘middle classes’ have different child-rearing techniques to the ‘working classes.’ However, in support of the strange situation, Bee (1999) believes that the most striking feature of the cross cultural studies is their similarity. With the exception of the countries mentioned earlier, most countries do seem to have a similar pattern with most infants forming secure attachments and the rest being split equally between avoidant and resistant. Further explanations of these cross cultural differences: Israeli children were reared in a Kibbutz where they are looked after by a metapelet (a nurse) so were used to being separated from their mother. As a result they do not show anxiety when their mother leaves. However, they are not used to strangers so get distressed when left alone with the stranger. This explains the high percentage of resistant behaviour. Fox (1977) tested children in the strange situation using either their mother or the metapelet. The children appeared similarly attached to both except for reunion behaviour where they were more pleased to see mother. Japanese children show similar patterns of attachment to the Israeli children but for different reasons. Japanese children are very rarely left by their mother. So the distress they show when she leaves is probably more due to shock than it is to insecure attachment. The distress they show when left alone with the stranger is also more likely to be due to absence of the mother. The German study highlights a high percentage of avoidant behaviour, typical of independent children. This is not surprising given that Grossmann et al (1985) say that German parents seek ‘independent, non-clingy infants, who do not make demands on parents, but obey their commands.’

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Curriculum Links KS3 / 4 - PSHE 2.1 Critical reflection 1. reflect on feelings and identify positive ways of understanding, managing and expressing strong

emotions and challenging behaviour 2. develop self-awareness by reflecting critically on their behaviour and its impact on others. 2.2 Decision-making and managing risk 1. assess and manage the element of risk in personal choices and situations 2. identify how managing feelings and emotions effectively supports decision-making and risk

management. 2.3 Developing relationships and working with others 1. use social skills to build and maintain a range of positive relationships 2. use the social skill of negotiation within relationships, recognising their rights and responsibilities and

that their actions have consequences KS3 – Science 3.3 Organisms, behaviour and health 1. all living things show variation, can be classified and are interdependent, interacting with each other

and their environment 2. behaviour is influenced by internal and external factors and can be investigated and measured. KS4 / 5 – Psychology 1. links to developmental psychology 2. links to cognitive development 3. links to behaviour as a result of disrupted/problematic patterns of child care KS4 / 5 – BTEC Heath and Social Care

Timeline 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:43 What is attachment? 00:09:00 Patterns of attachment 00:18:27 Mind-mindedness 00:25:51 Credits 00:26:24 End program

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Student Worksheet

Initiate Prior Learning 1. In terms of a newborn’s survival, explain why bonding is important. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Do all species bond in a similar way – think of insects, birds, humans? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 3. What would happen if a new born does not bond with its parent? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________

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4. Is there such a thing as a maternal instinct? Explain your ideas. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Do you think that fathers are able to bond with their child in the same way as a mother? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Is the type of bond you have with a significant carer important for future relationships? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________

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Extension Activities 1. Briefly explain why Bowlby was interested in attachment. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Define what is meant by the term attachment. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Prior to Bowlby’s work, it was thought that young children learned to attach themselves to a caregiver

through food. Briefly explain. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________

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4. This is referred to as the Behaviourist approach to attachment. Explain what is meant by

Behaviourism. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 5. At the time that Bowlby was formulating his theory other psychologists were putting forward the notion

that other abilities such as acquiring a language were innate. Explain what the word innate means. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Bowlby was influenced by the work of ethologists. Explain what an ethnologist is. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 7. One famous ethologist was Konrad Lorenz. Briefly explain his research using geese. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________

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8. What did Lorenz call this rapid learning? ____________________________________________________________________________________ 9. Bowlby said that babies were biologically programmed to form one special bond with their main

caregiver. What did he call this? ____________________________________________________________________________________ 10. Bowlby proposed that if attachment was not able to take place within a certain time then this could

have dire consequences for children. What did he call this period when he says attachment has to take place?

____________________________________________________________________________________ 11. Bowlby proposed his ‘continuity hypotheses. Explain what this means. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 12. Bowlby’s own research known as ‘the 44 juvenile thieves’ study showed some of the effects of

separation. Briefly describe the study and his results. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________

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13. Give three criticisms of this study. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 14. A student of Bowlby’s was an American woman called Mary Ainsworth. She extended the work of

Bowlby by looking at attachment types. Briefly describe her methodology. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 15. Name and describe the three attachment types that Ainsworth found. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 16. A further attachment type was later found. Describe this attachment type. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________

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17. Cross-cultural studies have compared Ainsworth’s results and have supported the reliability of her

findings. Explain what is meant by the term reliability. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 18. However, one problem of Ainsworth’s work is that it looks only at the relationship between the parent

and the child. What about the child’s temperament? Can this have an effect on attachment? Explain. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 19. Undoubtedly the relationship between the caregiver and the child is important to meet the child needs

for nurturance as well as security. Schaffer put forward the idea of ‘sensitivity responsiveness’ where the child with a secure attachment has a parent who is receptive to its needs, rather than their own needs. This has led to the formulation of the idea of Mind Mindedness. Briefly describe what this means and explain the research cited in the program that was used in the investigation.

____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 20. Explain the findings of this research in explaining why children may be insecure-resistant and insecure

avoidant. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________

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Suggested Student Responses

Extension Activities 1. Briefly explain why Bowlby was interested in attachment.

He was concerned about the number of orphans or children who had been separated from their parents as a result of the war and who were emotionally disturbed.

2. Define what is meant by the term attachment

A close relationship between two individuals, but more specifically it describes the relationship between a parent or carer and a young child.

3. Prior to Bowlby’s work, it was thought that young children learned to attach themselves to a caregiver

through food. Briefly explain. Because we need food to survive it was thought that it is food that is important in attachment behaviour.

4. This is referred to as the Behaviourist approach to attachment. Explain what is meant by

Behaviourism. A behaviourist places emphasis on learning as opposed to innateness. We learn through classical conditioning, operant conditioning and by social learning theory.

5. At the time that Bowlby was formulating his theory other psychologists were putting forward the notion

that other abilities such as acquiring a language were innate. Explain what the word innate means. Behaviours that we are born with that help us to survive.

6. Bowlby was influenced by the work of ethologists. Explain what an ethnologist is.

An ethologist is someone who studies animals, usually in their natural habitat to understand their behaviour patterns.

7. One famous ethologist was Konrad Lorenz. Briefly explain his research using geese.

He divided greylag geese into two groups. One group stayed with their mother and the other group were hatched in an incubator. The first thing they saw when they hatched was Lorenz. They followed Lorenz around just like the others followed their own mothers.

8. What did Lorenz call this rapid learning?

Imprinting

9. Bowlby said that babies were biologically programmed to form one special bond with their main

caregiver. What did he call this? A monotropic bond.

10. Bowlby proposed that if attachment was not able to take place within a certain time then this could

have dire consequences for children. What did he call this period when he says attachment has to take place? The critical period.

11. Bowlby proposed his ‘continuity hypotheses. Explain what this means

Attachment experiences shape future personalities.

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12. Bowlby’s own research known as ‘the 44 juvenile thieves’ study showed some of the effects of

separation. Briefly describe the study and the results he found. In order to look into the backgrounds of his subjects he interviewed their parents, the subjects and also looked at the case records. 39% of them had suffered maternal deprivation as they had been separated from the main caregiver for six months or more before the age of five. He compared these results to a control group of 44 children who’d been referred to the clinic for emotional problems but had not broken the law, only 2 - 4.5% - had experienced maternal deprivation. However fourteen of the thieves, compared to none in the control group, were classified as ‘affectionless psychopaths’, apparently incapable of forming an attachment with anyone.

13. Give three criticisms of this study

The numbers of children were relatively small. The study was a correlation and not necessarily causation. Some of the evidence may not be reliable, as participants were asked to recall events from the past.

14. A student of Bowlby’s was an American woman called Mary Ainsworth. She extended the work of

Bowlby by looking at attachment types. Briefly describe her methodology. This was called the ‘Strange Situation’ where a child is observed in a laboratory setting. This involves a series of separations from the primary carer, the introduction of a stranger and reunion with the primary carer and structured observations are taken.

15. Name and describe the three attachment types that Ainsworth found

Secure attachment Insecure Avoidant Insecure resistant

16. A further attachment type was later found. Describe this attachment type

Disorganised. These babies don't have any kind of clear strategy for what to do on separation and reunion. These babies might be quite fearful of the parents, and may look quite thunderstruck when the parents come back in. People now know that this disorganised form of attachment is much more common in children who may have been abused or neglected.

17. Cross-cultural studies have compared Ainsworth’s results that have supported the reliability of her

findings. Explain what is meant by the term reliability. Where similar results will be attained should the study be repeated.

18. However, one problem of Ainsworth’s work is that it looks only at the relationship between the parent

and the child. What about the child’s temperament? Can this have an effect on attachment? Explain Some children are easier to form attachments with.

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19. Undoubtedly the relationship between the caregiver and the child is important to meet the child needs

for nurturance as well as security. Schaffer put forward the idea of ‘sensitivity responsiveness’ where the child with a secure attachment has a parent who is receptive to its needs, rather than their own needs. This has led to the formulation of the idea of Mind Mindedness. Briefly describe what this means and explain the research cited in the program used in the investigation. a) The ability to attribute mental states to others and understand that they may have beliefs

and intentions that are different from our own.

b) A socially diverse sample was investigated. So generalisations to a wide population could be possible.

c) The research was based on two structured observations: Observation 1 tested mind-

mindedness. Mothers brought their babies to the lab when they were 8 months old. Mothers were instructed to play with their babies as they would at home and each session lasted 20 minutes.

This observation contrasts to traditional attachment studies. In this study the primary focus is not the behaviour of the babies but the behaviour of the mothers. Everything the mother said was filmed and then assessed independently by two researchers who were not aware of the hypothesis being tested.

They were looking to see if the mother’s comments were attuned or non-attuned to what the baby was doing. For example the baby’s reaching for a toy. An attuned, or mind-minded, comment would be something like Do you want that toy? Can I get that toy for you? Or, Do you like that toy? Non-attuned comments would be ones that had no obvious connection to what the child was doing or wanted

20. Explain the findings of this research in explaining why children may be insecure-resistant and insecure

avoidant Mothers of insecure-resistant infants tended to score highly in both appropriate and attuned comments While the mothers of insecure - avoidant infants tended to make very few appropriate or non-attuned comments.

(education management) - infobaseclassical, operant conditioning and social learning theory. this is...

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