attachment

Question 1

what are the two interactions between caregiver and infant

Answer 1

Reciprocity
Interactional synchrony

Question 2

what is reciprocity

Answer 2

when both the infant and the caregiver respond to each others signals and both elicit a response

Question 3

what is interactional synchrony

Answer 3

When two people are ‘synchronised’ they carry out the same action simultaneously

Question 4

what was the the meltzoff and moore study (1977)

Answer 4

Observed interactional synchrony in infants as young as two-weeks old
An adult displayed one of three facial expressions
The child’s response was filmed and observed by independent observers. They found an association between the adults’ gestures/expressions and the child’s responses

Question 5

what was the research for isabella et al (1989)

Answer 5

Observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of interactional synchrony.

They also assessed the quality of attachment between the mothers and infants

They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachment

Question 6

give one strength on the research of caregiver and infant interaction

Answer 6

Observations of caregiver-infant interactions are usually well-controlled procedures (even when conducted in natural environments)

Both the caregiver/model and infant are filmed frequently, usually from multiple angles – this is to ensure that very fine details of behaviour are recorded and analysed

Question 7

give two weaknesses on the research for caregiver infant interaction

Answer 7

1. Gratier -most observational studies on caregiver-infant interaction have shown the same patterns of interaction

From this, it is difficult to actually know what is happening from the infant’s perspective .

Low explanatory Power - we can’t ask the babies and find out

2.they may not be particularly useful in telling us why they happen

do not tell us much about the purpose of interactional synchrony and reciprocity

C; However, there is some evidence that these elements can be helpful for the development of empathy, language and more development

Question 8

What did schaffer and emmerson find about the attachment of children (1964)

Answer 8

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) – found that the majority of babies did become attached to their mother first ~7 months

They would then form secondary attachments after a few weeks/months to other family members, including the father

75% of infants formed an attachment with the father by 18 months

Question 9

what did Grossman conclude from role of the father research

Answer 9

They looked at both parents’ behaviour and the quality of the child’s attachments into their teens
They found that the quality of infant attachment with the mother was related to the child’s attachments in adolescence, but did not find the same result with the father

Question 10

what was the research for fathers as primary caregivers

Answer 10

filmed face-to-face interaction between 4 month olds and either:
Primary caregiver mothers
Primary caregiver fathers
Secondary caregiver fathers

found that primary caregiver fathers were shown to be more nurturing as they showed more smiling and imitating

Question 11

what are three weaknesses on the research for role of the father

Answer 11

inconsisitent findimgs

some psychologist want to find different things either the impact as fathers as secondary attachemnt figures or primary figures

lack of primary caregivers
women tend to take on the primary caregiver due to gender roles
Women may be biologically pre-determined to be the primary attachment figure

Question 12

why is research on role of the father socially sensitive

Answer 12

The research suggests that children may disadvantaged by particular child-rearing practices

Fathers may shy away from playing an active role in their child’s life

Mothers may feel that they must develop an attachment with their child early on (to develop interactional synchrony, etc)
This may prevent mothers from going back to work so soon if it is restricting their child’s development

Question 13

describe schaffer and emmerson research (1964) stages of attachement

Answer 13

The study involved 60 babies (31 male) from Glasgow – majority from working-class families
Babies and their mothers were visited at home every month for a year then again at 18 months
Mothers were asked about their baby’s protest behaviour shown during seven everyday separations
They also assessed stranger anxiety – (their response to an unfamiliar adult)

Question 14

what were the results from the study of schaffer and emmerson (1964)

Answer 14

About 50% of babies between 25-32 weeks of age showed signs of separation anxiety towards a particular adult (usually the mother)

Attachment was with the caregiver that was most interactive and sensitive to the infant’s signals and expressions
This was not necessarily the person they spent most time with

By 40 weeks of age, 80% had a specific attachment and 30% had multiple attachments

Question 15

what are three strengths on how the research was carried out

Answer 15

1. good external validity -the research was carried out in their homes
2. longitudinal study
   -findings were collected multiple times making it more reliable
3. Large sample
   -high population validity
   C: people were only from glasgow

Question 16

what was the asocial stage

Answer 16

Although the infant can recognise and form bonds with carers, behaviour does not differ around humans and non-human objects

Babies show some preference for familiar adults – those adults find it easier to calm them

Question 17

what was the indiscriminate attachment stage like

Answer 17

Babies display more observable social behaviour

They show a preference to humans than inanimate objects and recognise and prefer familiar faces

They accept cuddles and comfort from any adult – they do not show separation or stranger anxiety

Question 18

what is the discriminate stage

Answer 18

Babies start to display stranger anxiety when away from their main caregiver at around 7 months of age

This adult is labelled as the primary attachment figure

This is not necessarily the person the child spends most time with but is the one who offers the most interaction and reciprocity

Question 19

descibe the multiple stages

Answer 19

Once babies form an attachment with the primary attachment figure, they then extend their attachment behaviour to multiple attachments
These attachments are with other adults that they spend regular time with

These are known as secondary attachments

Majority of infants form multiple attachments by one year of age

Answer 20

Difficulty studying the asocial stage
There is not much behaviour to observe during the first few weeks of life
Young infants have poor co-ordination and are almost immobile

Therefore, it is difficult to make judgments about the infant’s attachment at this point

Question 21

what are the weaknesses for schaffer stages

Answer 21

1. difficulty studying the a social stage
   -there is not much to observe
2. conflicting evidence
   unsure when multiple attachments even form

-Research from Bowlby (1969) suggests that babies must form a primary attachment before they develop secondary attachments

However, – Van Ijzendoorn et al. (1993) found that in some cultures multiple attachments is the norm

Question 22

why do psychologist carry out animal studies

Answer 22

ethical reasons -some things cant be tested on humans
breeding -

Question 23

describe Lorenz’s research

Answer 23

Lorenz randomly divided a clutch of goose eggs into two groups

Half were hatched with the mother goose in her natural environment

The other half were hatched in an incubator and the first moving object they saw was Lorenz

Question 24

what are the results of the lorenz’s research

Answer 24

The incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere, whereas the control group followed their mother
This is called imprinting

from this study, Lorenz identified a critical period in which imprinting needs to take place

Question 25

describe the procedure for Harlow’s monkeys

Answer 25

He reared 16 baby monkeys with two wire model ‘mothers’

In one condition, milk was dispensed by the plain wire mother

In the other condition, milk was dispensed by a cloth-covered mother

Question 26

results and conclusions from Harlow’s experiment

Answer 26

He found that the baby monkeys cuddled the soft (cloth-covered) mother in preference to the wire one

They even sought comfort from the cloth mother when frightened

These results were found even if the cloth mother did not dispense milk

Contact comfort is more important than food

Question 27

what are the weaknesses in Lorenz’s study

Answer 27

• Generalisability - can we generalise animal behaviour to humans
  Lorenz used birds in his studies – the attachment system used by birds very different to humans
  E.g. mammalian mothers show more emotional attachment to their young than birds do

imprinting is unlikely to occur in humans as our attachments take longer than animals.

-conflicting evidence
Guiton et al. (1966) – found that chickens that had imprinted on yellow washing up gloves would try to mate with them as adults
However, with experience they later learned to prefer mating with other chickens
-suggests that imprinting is not permanent

Question 28

the strength of Harlow’s research

Answer 28

Theoretical value

Harlow’s findings have had a huge impact on psychologists’ understanding of human mother-infant attachment

He showed that attachment doesn’t develop as a result of being fed (biological) but as a result of contact comfort
practical value

Howe (1998) – found that it has given social workers an understanding of the possible implications of child neglect and abuse

Question 29

what were the weaknesses in Harlow’s research

Answer 29

Harlow faced criticism for the ethics of his research

The monkeys suffered both short and long-term as a result of his procedures (give examples)

-monkeys seperated from their mothers

Monkeys were used because they are considered as the most similar species to humans – but this also means they would have experienced suffering similar to humans

Question 30

what is monotropy

Answer 30

monotropy describes that the first attachment is different from all the other attachments. Attachment to the mother is different to all other attachments

Question 31

what is the law of continuity

Answer 31

the more constant and predictable a child’s care, the better quality of the attachment

Question 32

what is the law of accumulated separation

Answer 32

the effects of every separation add up (the less, the better)

Question 33

social releasers definition

Answer 33

a social behaviour or characteristic that elicits caregiving

Babies are born with a set of innate (and cute) behaviours like smiling and gripping that encourage attention from adults
Their purpose is to activate the adult attachment system

Question 34

the critical period definition

Answer 34

the time an attachement needs to form if formed at all

However, in humans, Bowlby suggested that the critical period is before 2 years of age (when the infant’s attachment system is most active)

Question 35

what is the internal working model

Answer 35

the mental representation carried about ones attachment to their primary caregiver

An IWM serves as a model for all other relationships in a child’s life – the mental representation is their baseline for what all future relationships should be like

Question 36

what are the weaknesses of the monotropy theory

Answer 36

mixed evidence against monotropy
Bowlby’s theory suggests that the primary attachment is the most significant and is different from other attachments

however Emmerson and Shaffer
van Izjendoorn et al. also found that in some cultures, multiple attachment is the norm, with no sign of a significant, primary attachment developing first