Attachment

Question 1

What is reciprocity?

Answer 1

where an infant responds to the actions of another person which in turn elicit’s

Question 2

What are Schaffer’s 4 stages of attachment?

Answer 2

Asocial
Indiscriminate attachment
Specific attachment
Multiple attachment

Question 3

Describe the asocial stage

Answer 3

• 0-6 weeks
• infant responds to objects and people similarly but may respond more to face and eyes

Question 4

Describe the indiscriminate attachment stage

Answer 4

• 6 weeks-6 months
• when infant develops more responses to human company
• although they can tell difference between different people anyone can comfort them

Question 5

Describe the specific attachment stage

Answer 5

• 7 months+
• when infant begins to prefer one particular carer
• seeks for security and comfort in particular people
• starts to show stranger and separation anxiety

Question 6

Describe the multiple attachment stage

Answer 6

• 10/11 months+
• when an infant forms multiple attachments and seeks security and comfort in multiple people
• may also show separation anxiety for multiple people

Question 7

Stages of attachment AO3:

Answer 7

Culture: Van Ijzendoorn says that culture plays a part in how/when we form attachments and with who
- in many non-western societies babies have multiple carers as this is the norm, so multiple attachments are formed earlier

Asocial stage: young babies have poor coordination and pretty much immobile in first few weeks, therefore can be difficult to make judgment about the purpose of any of their behaviour

Lacks population validity: study consists of only babies from Glasgow and mostly WC families
- sample size of 60 families also reduces strength of conclusion we can draw from study

Question 8

Give a summary of Schaffer and Emerson’s study

Answer 8

• studied 60 Glasgow babies from WC backgrounds
• visited them every month for the first year and then again at 18 months
• measured the babies attachment by asking the mum questions about separation and stranger anxiety

Question 9

What is the role of the father according to Grossman?

Answer 9

• Not important: found the quality of attachment with the mother is important when examining adolescent attachments but the quality of the fathers was not
• Play role: found that quality of fathers play with their babies was linked to the quality of attachment in adolescence suggesting a play role rather than emotional role

Question 10

What is the role of the father according to Schaffer and Emerson?

Answer 10

Multiple attachment: found that 75% of babies have attached to their fathers by the age of 18 months, becoming an important secondary attachment to the mother

Question 11

What is the role of the father according to Field?

Answer 11

Primary caregiver: fathers have the potential to be primary attachment giver
- he filmed reactions of infants to fathers and found that primary caregiving fathers spent more time interacting, smiling, holding infants; similar to mothers

Question 12

Role of the father AO3:

Answer 12

x Inconsistent findings: some researchers examine father as primary caregiver, some examine them as secondary; meaning we can’t simply answer ‘what is the role of the father’

x Social sensitivity: doesn’t take into account children with single/same sex families as Mcallum and Golombok found that children in single/same sex families do not develop any differently

+ Real world application: parents can be assured that the father can become primary caregiver if mother wants to work (talk about economic factors and how its positive that women wont be so limited anymore)