Please review and mark my 16 question for how to get 16 marks I don’t think I’m understanding the difference between ‘discuss’ and ‘outline and evaluate’ questions so any clarification would be appreciated. Thank you
Discuss research into the influence of childhood on adult relationships. (16 marks)
Research on the influence of early attachment suggests that very early experiences have a fixed effect on later adult relationships and, therefore, children who are insecurely attached at one year of age are doomed to experience emotionally unsatisfactory relationships as adults. However,researchers have found plenty of instances where participants were experiencing happy adult relationships despite not having been securely attached as infants.
Bowlby’s concept of the internal working model is a mental model of the world that relates to
a person’s expectations about relationships based upon their earliest attachment relationship. An infant learns about a relationship from experience; they learn what relationships are andhow partners in a relationship behave towards each other. It is an ‘operable’ model of self and attachment partner, based on their joint attachment history. It is called ‘operable’ because it isused to predict the behaviour of other people in the future.
Research has found that individuals who were classed as securely attached in infancy were
highest rated for social competence in later childhood. This is because securely attached infants have higher expectations that others are friendly and trusting. Hazan and Shaver (1987) also found a link between early attachment type and later relationships.
Quinton et al. (1984) found a link between poor attachment and later difficulties with parenting. The lack of an internal working model means that individuals lack a reference point to subsequently form relationships with their own children.
Research on the influence of early attachment suggests that very early experiences have a fixed effect on later adult relationships and, therefore, children who are insecurely attached at one year of age are doomed to experience emotionally unsatisfactory relationships as adults. However,researchers have found plenty of instances where participants were experiencing happy adult relationships despite not having been securely attached as infants. This shows that the research does not suggest that an individual’s past unalterably determines the future course of their relationships.
A further problem is that the research linking the internal working model/early attachment with later relationships experience is correlational rather than experimental and therefore we cannot claim that the relationship between early attachment and, for example, later love styles is one of cause and effect. It is possible that both attachment style and later love styles are caused by something different, such as innate temperament.
A further weakness of this area of research is that most studies rely on retrospective
classification of people’s early attachments. These recollections are likely to be flawed because our memories of the past are not always accurate. This is extremely important because if memories are inaccurate then the research findings will not be valid.
Not all research has found a strong positive correlation between early attachments and later
relationships. Fraley (2002) reviewed 27 samples where infants were assessed in infancy and later reassessed (ranging from 1 month to 20 years later). He found correlations ranging from .50 to as low as .10. These do not suggest attachment type is very stable and therefore early experiences are unlikely to have a predictable outcome.
The internal working model says that early relationships affect later attachment types and this is why, for example, securely attached infants go on to have more positive relationships. Feeney (1999), however, argues that adult attachment patterns may be properties of the relationship,not the individual. For example, it is possible that a secure adult relationship causes the adult attachment type. This means that another explanation may account for the findings of early attachment research.