Attachment

Question 1

describe what psychologists Feldman and Eidelman mean by ‘alert phases’

Answer 1

babies have periods of ‘alert phases’ where they signal they are ready for attention/ interaction. mothers are thought to respond 2/3 of the time

Question 2

define the term interactional synchrony

Answer 2

Feldman: the coordination of micro level behaviour- in other words, when two people, e.g. mother and infant, interact in a way that there behaviour mirrors one another

Question 3

provide a study to support Interactional synchrony

Answer 3

Meltzof and Moore: synchrony at 2 weeks old- an adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three distinctive features
response of children were filmed and results showed that there was an association between stimulus (expression) and action of the child

Question 4

provide a strength and a weakness of the Interactional synchrony theory

Answer 4

strength: research support Isabella et al- frequently observed interactional synchrony at 3 months was used to hypothesise that babies would have developed secure attachments by 9 months
observation at 9 months old proved this to be the case and vice versa

weakness- socially sensitive research for the participants themselves and the people they represent- due to research that shows that children may be disadvantaged as a result of specific child rearing practices. for e.g., mothers that return to work shortly after childbirth

Question 5

briefly explain Schaffer’ s stages of attachment

Answer 5

stage 1- Asocial stage (first few weeks)- behaviour towards
inanimate objects and humans are same/ similar, but there
is a preference for human beings

stage 2- indiscriminate (2-7 months)- more evident social behaviour
preference towards human beings over objects
recognise and prefer familiar adults with no stranger/
separation anxiety

stage 3- specific attachment (approx. 7 months)- stranger/
separation anxiety is evident
formation of primary attachment figure- usually someone
who offers the most interaction

stage 4- multiple attachments (1 year)- secondary attachments with adults form. e.g. father

Question 6

describe the procedure used in Schaffer and Emerson’s study of Attachment

Answer 6

procedure- 60 babies from working class (W.C) families in Glasgow
babies and mothers were visited every month for 1 year
and at 18 months
separation anxiety- measured by asking mothers the
behaviour of the child during everyday separations
stranger anxiety- asking mothers about child’s behaviour
around unfamiliar adults

Question 7

discuss findings and conclusions of their study

Answer 7

results: 50% showed separation anxiety towards a specific adult (usually mother) between 25 and 32 weeks of age

attachment tended to be with the caregiver who was the most interactive and sensitive to signals shown by the baby

Question 8

evaluate Schaffer and Emerson’s study of attachment

Answer 8

strength- good external validity- observations were made by parents within a natural setting and reported to researchers- so the behaviour of the baby is not affected by any external influences, such as the presence of an observer

weakness- lacks temporal validity- study was carried out in 1964- there have been several changes to society since then, for example, Equal Pay Act (1970) encourages women to work, so primary caregiver can be the father too. overlooks differences within households, e.g. same-sex parents

Question 9

outline Grossman’s longitudinal study of attachment

Answer 9

aim- investigated whether the behaviour of parents affected the quality of their relationship with their teenage children

results- quality of attachment with the father was less important compared to the attachment with the mother.

conclusion- suggests that fathers may not be as important when it comes to a long-term emotional development

Question 10

provide evidence that contradict research that state the fathers cannot be primary caregivers

Answer 10

Field (1978)- found that fathers that were the primary caregivers adopted behaviours more ‘typical’ of mothers

he found that fathers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants in comparison to secondarily attached fathers, where their role was more concerned with play and stimulation

Question 11

evaluate the role of the father theory

Answer 11

strength- economic implications- the pressure on mothers to stay home after childbirth as opposed to returning to work is lifted as research suggests that mothers are vital for a healthy emotional development

weakness- there is contradictory research that undermines the distinct role of the father. e.g. whilst Grossman suggests that a father’s key role is play and stimulation, McCallum and Golombok proved that same-sex families with children did not grow or develop any differently from those in two-parent families

Question 12

describe the procedure used by Lorenz in his study of imprinting

Answer 12

• randomly divided 12 goose eggs into two groups, 1) hatched with the mother 2) hatched in an incubator where the first moving object was Lorenz
• mixed them all together to see who they follow

Question 13

discuss findings and conclusions drawn from Lorenz’s study

Answer 13

results- incubator group- followed Lorenz
control group- followed mother

conclusions- there is a phase called the critical period whereby imprinting is necessary- if it doesn’t occur, chicks did not attach to mother

Question 14

evaluate Lorenz’s study of Imprinting

Answer 14

strength- research support- Guiton found that chicks imprinted on yellow washing up gloves and later tried to mate with them
-suggests that animals are born with an innate mechanism to imprint on the first moving object they are exposed to during the critical period

weakness- extrapolation is limited- difficult to generalise findings and conclusions of chicks/ birds onto human beings as they lack the complexity of behaviours found in human beings

Question 15

describe the procedure used by Harlow in his study of Contact Comfort

Answer 15

• reared 16 Rhesus monkeys with two wire model ‘mothers’
  Con 1- milk was dispensed from wire surrogate
  Con 2- dispensed through a cloth- covered surrogate

additional- reaction to frightening situations was observed, e.g. monkeys were placed with a noise making teddy bear

Question 16

discuss findings and conclusions drawn from Harlow’s study

Answer 16

results- baby monkeys cuddled cloth-covered surrogate regardless of which surrogate dispensed milk

• sought comfort from cloth-covered mother when frightened
• consequences of monkeys that were deprived of real mother: more aggressive, less skilled when mating, and sometimes killed their own offspring

Question 17

evaluate Harlow’s study of Contact Comfort

Answer 17

strength- Practical implications- has helped social workers understand risks and consequences of child abuse and in the development of necessary intervention (Howe 1998)

weakness- ethics of the research- given that Rhesus monkeys are thought to be more similar to humans, it is argued that their suffering was probably human-like too, which can reduce the value of the research.
However, the benefits that have risen due to his results can be argued to outweigh the negative side effects

Question 18

briefly explain Dollard and Miller’s role of classical conditioning in attachment

Answer 18

main argument- importance of food/ ‘cupboard love’ in attachment formation

Classical Conditioning- food (UCS) leads to pleasure (UCR)
caregiver (NS) e.g. mother, provides food so she becomes the CS and the feeling of pleasure becomes the CR- baby associates mother with pleasure and attachment is formed

Question 19

explain how this attachment is reinforced through operant conditioning

Answer 19

‘steps’ to operant conditioning:

1) baby cries
2) mother responds by feeding (e.g.)
3) baby feels good
4) crying is now reinforced because it produces a good feeling

mother is now negatively reinforced as she knows how to respond to an unpleasant stimulus (crying)

Question 20

evaluate the learning theory of attachment

Answer 20

strength- some elements of conditioning are evident in everyday life experiences. many aspects of human development are affected by conditioning so it seems logical to state that it can also affect attachment

weakness- reductionist- reduces complex behaviours of human beings to simple processes such as conditioning and reinforcement- tends to overlook other factors such as innate and cognitive factors