Attachment

Question 1

Define Attachment

Answer 1

Attachment - Close two-way emotional bond between 2 individuals, each one feels more secure when with the other

Question 2

What does Reciprocity do

Answer 2

Increase in Independence, Attachment forms with reciprocity (Response to child’s signals)

Question 3

Define Reciprocity

Answer 3

The infant and caregiver reliably produce responses to each other

Question 4

Key example of reciprocity

Answer 4

Infants tend to have an innate ability to imitate carer’s facial expressions, if carer smiles then the baby will smile back

Question 5

Define Interactional Synchrony

Answer 5

Infant and carer form a type of conversation without language (mirror the other)

Question 6

Example of Interactional Synchrony

Answer 6

Baby might make a noise while looking at caregiver who waits for baby to finish then responds in the same language (goo goo gaga)

Question 7

Tronik et al

Answer 7

Asked mothers who had been enjoying a dialogue with their baby to stop moving and maintain a static, unsmiling expression on their faces
Babies would try to tempt the mother into interaction by smiling themselves
Babies would become puzzled and increasingly distressed when their smile did not provoke the ‘usual’ response

Question 8

Positives of Caregiver-infant interactions research

Answer 8

Many studies involving observation of interactions between mothers and infants have shown the same patterns of interaction
No social desirability - babies don’t know or care that they are being observed

Question 9

Negatives of Caregiver-infant interactions research

Answer 9

How can we be sure how the infant is perceiving the adults movements and facial expressions? Could the infant’s imitation be a coincidence?

Question 10

What are the 8 episodes of the Strange Situation

Answer 10

Mother and child enter a room and explore
Mother sits down and allows child to play
Stranger enters and interacts with mother while child plays
Mother leaves and Stranger offers comfort
Mother comes back and stranger leaves
Mother leaves baby alone
Strangers enters and offers comfort
Finally, Mother comes back and reunites with child

Question 11

What was tested in the Strange Situation

Answer 11

Stranger Anxiety
Seperation Anxiety
Secure Base
Reunion Behaviour

Question 12

Which episode of the SS tests Stranger Anxiety

Answer 12

Episode 4 and 7
Child is alone with stranger and it tests to see whether the child would be willing to play with the stranger. Stranger Anxiety present would mean the child avoids the stranger and doesn’t accept the comfort

Question 13

Which episode of the SS tests Seperation Anxiety

Answer 13

Episode 6
Mother leaves child alone with no-one, Seperation Anxiety present will show that the child is emotionally affected when the mother leaves the child and the child misses their prescence

Question 14

Which episode of the SS tests secure base

Answer 14

Episode 1
When the child is first introduced to the room, it is tested by observing whether they freely leave the mother to explore, or stay besides the mother (Secure base)

Question 15

What was the main findings that concluded the SS

Answer 15

Ainsworth discovered 3 different types of attachments that varied depending on their behaviour

Question 16

What are the 3 types of attachments

Answer 16

Insecure Avoidant
Secure
Insecure Resistant

Question 17

What were the findings of the SS

Answer 17

70% Secure
15% Avoidant insecure
15% Resistant insecure

Question 18

What was the aim of the Strange Situation

Answer 18

To observe attachment security in children within the context of
caregiver relationships

Question 19

Outline the characteristics of a secure attachment

Answer 19

Safe base - Will use the mother as a safe base to explore their
environment

Separation anxiety - Mildly distressed when mother leaves

Stranger anxiety - Wary of stranger when alone but friendly when mother is present

Reunion behaviour - Happy when mother returns/joy at reunion/easily soothed

Question 20

Outline the characteristics of an insecure avoidant attachment

Answer 20

Safe base - Explores but does not come back and use mother as a safe base

Separation anxiety - Infant shows no sign of distress when mother leaves/doesn’t notice her absence

Stranger anxiety - Infant is not distressed with the stranger and plays normally when stranger is present

Reunion behaviour - Infant shows no interest when mother returns

Question 21

Outline the characteristics of an insecure resistant attachment

Answer 21

Safe base - Infant does not explore

Separation anxiety - Infant shows signs of intense distress

Stranger anxiety - Infant avoids the stranger

Reunion behaviour - Child approaches mother, but resists contact, rejects/pushed her away

Question 22

Give 2 criticisms of the SS

Answer 22

A major fault in Ainsworth’s experiment was that all children were tested assuming the primary caregiver was the mother. The reason this invalidates the practical is because the assumption that none of the fathers are PCGs can ruin the validity of the results

Lacked population validity. They assumed the children from a middle-class american family would re-enact the same behaviours as others araound the world

Question 23

Give 1 positive of the SS

Answer 23

Replicable - It is an easy experiment to replicate

Question 24

What does the Caregiver Sensitivity Hypothesis show

Answer 24

The CSH states that a child’s attachment type for the future is dependant on how they were raised up previously

Question 25

What was the aim of Schaffer and Emerson’s study

Answer 25

To investigate the effect that attachments would have with carers sensitive to the baby’s signals, rather than the time they spent with them

Question 26

What are the 4 stages of attachments according to Schaffer and Emerson

Answer 26

Asocial
Indiscriminate
Specific
Multiple

Question 27

What are the age ranges for each stage of attachments according to Schaffer and Emerson

Answer 27

Asocial stage (0-6 weeks)
Indiscriminate attachments (6 weeks – 6 months)
Specific (7 months +)
Multiple (10/11 months +)

Question 28

What characteristics did the chidlren show for the Asocial stage

Answer 28

Similar responses to objects & people. Preference for faces/ eyes.

Question 29

What characteristics did the chidlren show for the Indiscriminate Stage

Answer 29

Enjoy human company, Equal Response to any caregiver, From 3 months smile at familiar faces

Question 30

What characteristics did the chidlren show for the Specific stage

Answer 30

Preference to one Caregiver, Looks for particular people for security and comfort, Arise in Fear of Strangers

Question 31

What characteristics did the chidlren show for the Multiple stage

Answer 31

Increase in Independence, Attachment forms with reciprocity (Response to child’s signals)
Attachment behaviours are displayed towards several different people eg. siblings, grandparents

Question 32

Evaluate Schaffer and Emerson’s research (4marks)

Stages of Attachment

Answer 32

Some of the data could be unreliable as it is based on the parent’s self-reports of their infants behaviour. Meaning that the data is not recorded by the researcher which means that they have embedded their trust into the parents to obtain data that is not biassed, false etc.

However, some parents may give in false data which can be viewed as socially desirable as it may affect their ethics or their self as to why they produce results which the researchers would want to see.

Another factor being that the parents aren’t qualified to research in an experiment, so a small detail could easily be missed or even a major aspect could be missed as the parent may not understand what the researchers are looking for, causing a corruption in data and therefore not producing reliable results.