AS PSYCHOLOGY

Developmental Psychology Early Social Development

Attachment

Explanations of attachment, including learning

theory and Bowlbys 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

Explanations of attachment, including

learning theory and Bowlbys 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.

 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

Pavlovs model can be applied to attachment in human infants. If we assume that the
infants 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

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 someones 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 Skinners 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

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
Lactating wire mother with a feeding
bottle of milk
Cloth mother wire wrapped in soft
cloth

Attachment behaviour
Some feeding!
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.

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

AO1

AO1

AO1

AO1

AO1

Evaluate the Learning Theory of attachment (6 marks)

AO2

AO2

AO2

AO2

AO2

AO2

Bowlbys Theory of Attachment

The background
John Bowlby believed that mental health and behavioural problems could be attributed to
early childhood.
Bowlbys 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 Lorenzs (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 Bowlbys 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
Bowlbys 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 motheror
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.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

What is attachment? Make reference to innate and imprinting.

What is the role of social releasers in attachment?
What is the fear of strangers?
Outline the importance of monotropy and primary attachment in Bowlbys theory.
Explain maternal deprivation and its potential consequences
What is the internal working model?

Evaluation of Bowlbys (1946, 1956) Attachment Theory

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The Strengths
Lorenzs 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 Bowlbys 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. Tronicks (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.
Harlows 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 Ps 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
Bowlbys 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
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became attached to other people. By 18 months very few (13%) were attached to
only one person; some had five or more attachments.
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 Bowlbys 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 Bowlbys 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 childs 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 Bowlbys theory.
Outline and evaluate one or more explanations of attachment. (12 marks)

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Types of attachment and the strange situation

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 Bowlbys 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 infants
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 caregivers lack of sensitive responding to the infants 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). Both
comfort-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
1. Parent and infant play
2. Parent sits while infant plays

Behaviour Assessed
Use of parent as secure base

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3. Stranger enters and talks to parent

Stranger anxiety

4. Parent leaves, infant plays, stranger offers

comfort if needed

Separation anxiety

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 behaviour
Findings:
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 on
her 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 mothers behaviour and the infants
attachment type, which suggests that mothers behaviour may be important in determining
attachment type.
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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.
are culturally biased. This is related to population validity.
The strange situation focuses on the relationship between the child and the mother.
However a childs 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 Ainsworths 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)

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Applied exam question

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 infants 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

Current love
experiences

Secure adults

Insecure-avoidant
adults

Insecure-resistant
adults

Relationships are
positive

Fearful of closeness

Preoccupied by love

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Attitudes towards
love

Trust others and

believe in enduring
love

Love is not long

lasting nor
necessary for
happiness

Fall in love easly but

have trouble finding
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 mothers 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 Bowlbys 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 childrens 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 Bowlbys evolutionary theory could.

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

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Cultural variations in attachments

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
Ainsworths 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 Ainsworths system as Type A, B or C. A table of Van
Ijzendoorn and Kroonenbergs findings is shown below.
Table 1. Comparisons of insecure and secure attachments in eight countries (adapted from Bee,
1995)
Country
Number of
Secure (%)
Avoidant (%)
Resistant/Ambivalent
studies
Type B
Type A
(%) Type C
China
1
50.0
25.0
25.0
Great Britain
1
75.0
22.2
2.8
Japan
2
67.7
5.2
27.1
Israel
2
64.4
6.8
28.8
Netherlands
4
67.3
26.3
6.4
Sweden
1
74.5
21.6
3.9
US
18
64.8
21.1
14.1
West 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.
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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.
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 Ainsworths original findings. Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg noted overall that
the intra-cultural variation (within cultures) was nearly one-anda-half-times the cross-cultural
variation. These differences within cultures demonstrate the common-sense point that it is an oversimplification 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.
Ainsworths 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 childs 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 .
22

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
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 Kroonenbergs 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 Bowlbys 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.

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

mother love in infancy and childhood is

as important for mental health, as are
vitamins and proteins for physical health
Bowlby (1951)

Bowlby (1951)

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Bowlby claimed that theres 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 childs 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 didnt 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 wont be asked about MDH in the exam but its 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 whod 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).
Goldfarbs study is a natural experiment. What is meant by this term?

(2 marks)

Goldfarbs 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 didnt 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 Goldfarbs study the children werent 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 thats 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 childs 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
childrens 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
Protest

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

her from leaving. This is an outward, direct expression of the childs
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 peoples
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 its a problem that no one nurse took responsibility
for Johns care?

Looking through the day-by-day account of Johns behaviour, and referring to the
table above, what were the behaviours that indicated that he was showing the signs
of distress in Bowlbys 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
Bowlbys MDH.

What was the positive outcome from all of this research?

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Factors Influencing Distress in Separation/Deprivation

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 theres 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 its debatable how
this could be judged!)
If the child has never been separated from the mother before
If there arent other attachment figures who can provide love and care in the
mothers 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
Traceys 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 care
Disruption 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 Activity
Find out about Hodges and Tizards (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?
IV
DV
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:

Evaluation
The findings are theoretically rich. The data both support and contradict Bowlbys 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 its a problem:
11.What issues arise from the use of questionnaires in terms of validity and reliability?
Key Terms:
Institutionalisation

Disinhibited attachment

Refers to the behaviour patterns of children who have been raised

in institutions such as orphanages or childrens 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.
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 childrens
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 childs 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
30

them two weeks after 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
childrens 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)

31