Attachment

Question 1

Attachment definition

Answer 1

The close emotional bond between 2 people, which involves a feeling of well being and desire to be close eg between mother and child

Question 2

Reciprocity

Answer 2

A 2 way relationship eg between mother and child where they both respond to each others signals
Eg mother smiles at baby and baby gives a response

Question 3

Studies into reciprocity: jaffe

Answer 3

Found that infants coordinate their actions with caregivers in a kind of conversation
The more reciprocity the better the attachment

Question 4

Interactional synchrony

Answer 4

Mother and child reflect both the actions and emotions of each other
This is often coordinated with each other (synchronised)
The more synchronised mother and child’s actions and emotions the better quality of attachment

Question 5

Meltzoff + Moore

Answer 5

Adult displayed one out of three facial expressions or one of three distinctive gestures
Baby’s response was filmed and labelled by independent observers
Baby’s expression and gestures more likely to mirror those of the adults

Question 6

Strength of caregiver interactions
Supportive research

Answer 6

P: one strength is that there is supportive research for the importance of caregiver interactions
E: Isabella et al. In this study they observed 30 mothers and their children to assess how much interactional synchrony there was. They found that the more interactional synchrony the better quality of attachment
C: used this to implement support theories to help better the quality of attachment which benefits child in long run

Question 7

Strength of caregiver interactions
Observational settings

Answer 7

P: much of research is conducted in observational settings
E: in controlled observation, mother and child can be filmed and watched at all angles to see how they interact. Babies don’t know they’re being observed so demonstrates real behaviour
C: results are more reliable and increases validity

Question 8

Limitation of caregiver interactions
Very young babies

Answer 8

P: these interactions are observed in very young babies
E: researchers looking for body movements and facial expressions and how they may change during interaction
C: researchers don’t know if behaviour is deliberate as they can’t ask the baby

Question 9

Limitation of caregiver interactions
Socially sensitive

Answer 9

P: much of research can be classes as socially sensitive as they argue that the quality of these interactions impact negatively on child if not formed properly
E: mother may have to go back to work whilst raising child
C: parent may blame themself if attachment is poor. May be financial issues so mum cannot stay home as she has to go to work

Question 10

Stages of attachment
Schaffer and Emerson’s research

Answer 10

60 babies from Glasgow working class families
Researchers visited babies and mothers in their own homes every month for 1st year and again at 18 months
They asked about kind of protest their babies showed in everyday situations
This was designed to measure attachment but they also assessed stranger anxiety
They identified 4 distinct stages in development

Question 11

Stage 1: Asocial stage

Answer 11

Develops in first few weeks
Child recognises and forms bonds with caregivers
Same behaviour towards humans and objects
Babies happier around humans

Question 12

Stage 2: Indiscriminate attachment

Answer 12

Develops 2-7 months
Child is more social
Shows preference to humans over objects
Accept cuddles from any human. Doesn’t show stranger/separation anxiety

Question 13

Stage 3: specific attachment

Answer 13

Develops 7+months
Begin to develop stranger + separation anxiety
They have formed a specific attachment to caregiver
Based on who interacts with child the most

Question 14

Stage 4: multiple attachments

Answer 14

Develops 9+ months
Soon after primary attachment is formed secondary attachments begin to form
By age 1 most infants have multiple attachments eg dad, siblings

Question 15

Strength of Schaffer and Emerson
In families home

Answer 15

P: research conducted took place in the families home via natural observation
E: demand characteristics reduced as they would show more natural behaviours
C: we can generalise findings so they tell us more about attachment in real life. Findings high in validity

Question 16

Strength of Schaffer and Emerson
Longitudinal study

Answer 16

P: it was a longitudinal study; observing the children for over a year
E: researchers able to gather much more insight and understanding regarding the children and how their attachments changed over time
C: results high in validity

Question 17

Limitation of Schaffer and Emerson
Sample

Answer 17

P: one issue with Schaffer and Emerson is the sample they used
E: 31 male and 29 female babies from Glasgow. So sample is ethnocentric- sample made up of people from 1 culture
C: can’t generalise findings to other cultures as differences in cultures may have an effect on how attachments develop. Culturally biased research

Question 18

Limitation of Schaffer and Emerson
Asocial stage

Answer 18

P: issues arise when studying Asocial stage
E: studying very young babies is a problem as you can’t ask them if their behaviour is deliberate
C: how can researchers be certain that what they think they are measuring is actually correct. Highly subjective

Question 19

Animal studies of attachment
Harlow - importance of contact comfort

Answer 19

Harlow observed that newborns kept alone in a bare cage usually died if they were not given something soft to cuddle eg cloth

Question 20

Harlow procedure

Answer 20

Harlow tested the idea that a soft object serves some of the functions of a mother
In one experiment he reared 16 baby monkeys with 2 wire model ‘mothers’
In one condition milk was dispensed by the plain wire mother whereas in a second condition the milk was dispensed by a cloth covered mother

Question 21

Harlow findings

Answer 21

The baby monkeys cuddled the cloth covered mother in preference to the plain wire mother and sought comfort from the cloth one when frightened.
Contact comfort was of more importance to the monkey than food when it came to attachment behaviour

Question 22

Maternally deprived monkeys as adults (long term damage)

Answer 22

Harlow followed monkeys into adulthood to see how they behaved if they’d been deprived of a real mother
Monkeys raised with a wire mother were mostly dysfunctional. They tended to be more aggressive and less sociable
They tended to mate less and those who did neglected their young in extreme cases killing their offspring

Question 23

Strength of Harlow
Theoretical value

Answer 23

Harlows findings have had a profound effect on our understanding of attachment
Shows how important contact comfort is for a child’s development
Highlights how important early attachments are to our later social development

Question 24

Limitation of Harlow
Ethical issues

Answer 24

Faced severe criticisms in his research as the monkeys suffered greatly
Monkeys considered close enough species to generalise findings so it is argued that their suffering would be human like
Harlow was fully aware of the suffering he was causing to monkeys

Question 25

Lorenz research

Answer 25

First to observe imprinting - species that are mobile from birth eg birds attach and follow the first moving object they see

Question 26

Lorenz procedure

Answer 26

Lorenz divided a clutch of goose eggs, half hatched with their mother in natural setting and half hatched in incubator where Lorenz was the first person they saw

Question 27

Lorenz findings

Answer 27

The incubator group followed him everywhere whereas the other group followed the mother around
Critical period - imprinting needs to happen during certain time after birth

Question 28

Limitation of Lorenz
Generalise

Answer 28

Can’t generalise findings to humans
It’s suggested that human attachment is quite different to attachments formed in birds
So you can’t generalise findings

Question 29

Limitation of Lorenz
Observations questioned

Answer 29

Some of his conclusions have been questioned as there is now a suggestion that imprinting isn’t as permanent as Lorenz suggests
Evidence that imprinting can be reversed if animal is exposed to their own species so imprinting can change due to experience

Question 30

Role of the father
Father as primary attachment

Answer 30

Only 3% of babies in Schaffer and Emerson’s had a primary attachment to father
They concluded that majority of attachments with father were secondary
75% of babies formed this attachment by 18 months old

Question 31

Grossman 2002

Answer 31

Conducted a longitudinal study
Found that quality of attachment with father was less important for normal attachment than with mother
Concluded that fathers may be less important in a child’s long term development in terms of emotional/social well being

Question 32

What does the father offer the child
Updated research

Answer 32

A mother’s role is more nurturing whereas the father will offer the child play and stimulation. Quality of play in a child’s early years is related to attachment in adulthood

Question 33

Father as primary caregiver

Answer 33

Research shows that father can become primary caregivers; they will begin to adopt that nurturing role and focus less on play and stimulation

Question 34

Strength of role of the father
Biological evidence

Answer 34

P: one strength of research into role of the father is that there is biological evidence that male attachment may occur differently to that of mothers
E: during childbirth women release oxytocin (love hormone) which facilitates bonding process. Men don’t, they also naturally have lower levels of this
C: supports same idea as grossmans research which states that child father relationship is different

Question 35

Strength of role of father
Primary caregiver

Answer 35

P: more recent research suggest that fathers can take role of primary caregiver
E: this may relieve pressure on mother. Financially benefit families if mother needs to work
C: parents can split leave giving father more paternity leave

Question 36

Limitation of role of father
Undervalues father

Answer 36

P: much of the research undervalues what the father offers the child eg only play/stimulation or a secondary caregiver
E: alpha bias - one gender is devalued while other is enhanced. fathers are devalued by saying their only role is play rather then care
C: single dad household

Question 37

Limitation of role of the father
Economy

Answer 37

P: the research may have implications on the economy
E: research states that the role of the mother and father is different and this may have shaped historical policies. Mothers get longer maternity leave and more time off is paid for than paternity leave
C: attachment with father may be less due to the fact that they are in work while mother is at home

Question 38

Learning theory of attachment

Answer 38

Dollard and Miller created the learning theory
Highlights the importance of caregiver providing food for child
Child learns to love the person that is feeding them
Principles of OC and CC

Question 39

Classical conditioning and learning theory of attachment

Answer 39

Before conditioning -
Food = UCS
happy baby = UCR

During conditioning-
Mother (NS) + food (UCS) = happy baby (UCR)

After conditioning-
Mother (CS) = happy baby (CR)

Question 40

Learning theory and operant conditioning

Answer 40

Learning to repeat/not repeat a behaviour based on the consequences
Positive consequence - more likely to be repeated
Crying leads to response from caregiver - usually feeding

Question 41

Limitation of learning theory
Counter evidence from human studies

Answer 41

P: there is counter evidence from human studies eg Schaffer and Emerson’s study
E: in learning theory it’s argued that attachments are formed to the person who feeds you. Schaffer and Emerson found that attachments form with the person who feeds you the most
C: suggests there is more than one factor in determining who we form an attachment to. So it’s reductionist. Limits understanding

Question 42

Limitation of learning theory
Counter evidence from animal studies

Answer 42

P: counter evidence from animal studies eg Harlow and Lorenz
E: Harlow studied baby monkeys and found that they formed an attachment with cloth covered mother for comfort. Lorenz studied geese and found they formed attachment with first moving object they saw
C: food isn’t sole reason why we form attachments

Question 43

Counter argument for learning theory
Animal studies

Answer 43

P: criticise use of animal studies as counter evidence for learning theory
E: implications when it comes to generalising results to humans as we’re a completely different species to birds and different to monkeys
C: studies don’t tell us much about human behaviour and attachment

Question 44

Limitation of learning theory
Ignores other factors eg caregiver

Answer 44

P: it ignores other factors such as caregiver and their role in forming attachments
E: reprocity and interactional synchrony ignored. Ignores how these 2 features are important in the quality of attachments that are formed
C: difficult to accept that attachments are formed based on feelings alone. Reductionist - hinders understanding of how attachments develop