Attachment

Question 1

Define attachment

Answer 1

A close two-way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security.

Question 2

How can we recognise attachment?

Answer 2

When people display the following behaviours:
-Proximity: people try to stay physically close to whom they are attached
-Separation distress: distressed when attachment figure leaves their presence
-secure-base behaviour: tend to make regular contact with their attachment figure even when they are independent from them
-reunion behaviour: people tend to respond emotionally when reunited to those they are most attached with

Question 3

define interactional synchrony

Answer 3

when an infant and caregiver interact, they tend to mirror what the other one is doing in terms of their facial and body movements. Adults and babies respond in time to sustain communication

Question 4

Define reciprocity

Answer 4

caregiver/infant interaction is a two-way mutual process; each party responds to the others signals to sustain communication (turn-taking). The behaviour from each party elicits a response from the other.

Question 5

Interactional synchrony study A01:
-who
-aim
-method

Answer 5

-Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
-To investigate how early infants are able to mirror adults
-six infants age 12-21 days were each shown three facial gestures (e.g. smiling) and one manual gesture (e.g. raising hand), sequentially. Responses were videotaped and scored by observers who did not know which gesture the infant had seen the adult do

Question 6

Interactional synchrony study A01:
-results
-conclusion

Answer 6

-infants of this young age were able to mirror all four gestures
-Suggests that synchronised behaviours are innate

Question 7

Reciprocity study A01:
-who
-method

Answer 7

-Brazleton et al (1974)
-12 mother-infant pairs who were seen repeatedly over the infants first five months of life
-During each videotaped and coded session, mothers would come from behind a curtain to play (using lots of positive facial expressions) with their infant for three minutes. they would then leave and recording continued for another 30 seconds whilst infant was alone. Mother then returned for another 3 minute face-to-face interaction. They were sometimes instructed to present a still, unresponsive face.

Question 8

Reciprocity study A01:
-results

Answer 8

-when mothers carried out f2f interaction, babies moved their bodies in smooth, circular patterns and looked frequently at their mothers.
-When mothers stopped responding to them their movements became jerky and they averted their gaze, followed by a short period of attempting to get their mothers attention, until finally they curled up and lay motionless
-Suggest reciprocal actions are crucial to attachment formation

Question 9

Evaluation of infant-caregiver interactions: plan (other than research support)

Answer 9

(+)Practical applications- antenatal classes
(-)Low population validity
(+)Well controlled procedures
(-)Problems with testing infants behaviour

Question 10

Evaluation of infant-caregiver interactions (ICI)
(+)Practical applications

Answer 10

Research into ICI has led to successful PA such as antenatal classes. Professionals involved in prenatal and neonatal care and pregnancy encourage parents to interact with their babies. This aid healthy attachment formation in childhood which often continues throughout life and extends to later relationships. This reduces welfare and social services benefits and MH care costs to NHS as individuals will be more likely to be happier, typically functioning adults. Strength as this is a valuable contribution to society and helps reduce the costs of social services.

Question 11

Evaluation of infant-caregiver interactions
(-)Low population validity

Answer 11

Meltzoff and Moore’s study consisted of six infants and Brazelton et al studied 12 mother-infant pairs. These are both very small sample sizes and may not be representative of all infants. Limitation because findings about caregiver-infant interactions may be difficult to generalise to other infants (low external). In addition, because of small sample conclusions drawn about imitation/reciprocity may not be valid. Therefore, this reduces the validity of the claim caregivers and infants communicate via interactional synchrony and reciprocity.

Question 12

evaluation of infant-caregiver interaction
(+)well controlled procedures

Answer 12

Research is controlled observation and therefore is a highly controlled procedure. the interactions are filmed from different angles. Means that very fine details can be recorded and analysed later. Strength of research into caregiver-infant interactions because several researchers can re-watch video clips as many times as necessary to ensure that all behaviours are recorded. Therefore, these findings about caregiver-infant interactions have high internal validity.

Question 13

Evaluation of caregiver-infant interaction
(-)Problems with testing infants behaviour

Answer 13

difficult to test and is open to observer bias. Infant’s mouths are fairly constant in motion and the expressions that are tested occur frequently by chance (tongue sticking out and smiling). Limitation as it makes it difficult to distinguish between general activity and specific behaviours (synchronised or reciprocal), and as a result there is a great deal of interpretation of what babies are actually doing. Therefore, the findings about caregiver-infant interactions may not be valid.

Question 14

Evaluation of caregiver-infant interaction
(-)Problems with testing infants behaviour (contradiction)

Answer 14

However, Meltzoff and Moore overcome this issue by filming infants responses then asking an observer to judge the infants behaviour from the video. The person judging was not made aware of the behaviour being imitated - they didn’t see the behaviour of the adult on that of the infant. This technique increased the internal validity of their findings, which in turn strengthens the validity of the claim that infants do imitate caregivers’ behaviour.

Question 15

What are the four stages of attachment?

Answer 15

Stage 1: Asocial
Stage 2: Indiscriminate attachment
Stage 3: Specific attachment
Stage 4: Multiple attachment

Question 16

Outline Schaffer’s fist stage of attachment

Answer 16

This stages occurs in the babies first few weeks. In this stage their behaviour towards humans and non-human objects is quite similar

Question 17

Outline Schaffer’s second stage of attachment

Answer 17

2-7months. Now show a preference for humans over inanimate objects and prefer familiar people, this is the beginning of attachment formation. However, they will accept attention and affection from all adults equally

Question 18

Outline Schaffer’s second stage of attachment

Answer 18

from 7months. Both stranger and separation anxiety occur. Babies will have formed a specific attachment which in 65% of cases is the mother yet is mainly based on reciprocity

Question 19

Outline Schaffer’s fourth stage of attachment

Answer 19

8-12 months. Babies begin to form multiple attachments too those other than their primary attachment figure (secondary attachments)

Question 20

Key study: stage of attachment
-who
-method

Answer 20

Schaffer and Emerson
-60 babies from working class families based in Glasgow. The babies and mother were visited every month for their first year and again at 18 months. the mother were asked questions about their babies reactions when they were separated from them (separation anxiety) and when there was a stranger present (stranger anxiety)

Question 21

Key study: stages of attachment
-findings

Answer 21

By 6-8 months most babies started to show separation anxiety from their attachment figure indicating that an attachment had been formed
-65% mother
-3% fathers
-27% joint
By 18 months around 87% had at least 2 attachment, whereas 31% were attached to 5 or more people (multiple attachment)

Question 22

Evaluation of the stages of attachment (plan)

Answer 22

(+)Supported by research
(+)Longitudinal
Counter - low external validity (population validity)
(-)Self-report
(-)Cultural bias

Question 23

Evaluation of the stages of attachment
(+)Supported by research

Answer 23

Schaffer and Emerson studied 60 babies from working class families in Glasgow. Researchers visited M and B at home every month for first year and again at 18 months. They found that by 6-8 months babies started to show separation anxiety from their attachment figure. By 18 months 87% of babies had at least two attachments. This is a strength because the babies did demonstrate the attachment behaviours associated with each stage and therefore demonstrate the theory’s claims are valid

Question 24

Evaluation of the stage of attachment
(+)Longitudinal

Answer 24

a strength is that it was carried out longitudinally (over 18 months). the same children were followed up and observed regularly (as opposed to observing different children of varying ages at the same time - which would have led to individual differences). strength because the study doesn’t have the issue of individual difference between the ptps acting as confounding variables and therefore the findings have internal validity.

Question 25

Evaluation of the stages of attachment (-) self-report

Answer 25

The data was collected from the mother's reports of their infants. For example, some mothers might have been less sensitive to their infants protests and therefore were less likely to report them. In addition, some may have given socially desirable answers because they may not want to disclose that their child is not attached to their farther or that they don't get upset when they are separated. This is a limitation of the study because the conclusions drawn about the stages in which attachment develops would not be valid.

Question 26

Evaluation of the stages of attachment (-)Cultural bias

Answer 26

A limitation of the proposed stages of attachment found by the study is that they may be culturally biased. Van Ijzendoorn et al found that babies born into collectivist cultures (where the sharing of child rearing duties is common amongst communities) had multiple attachments from the outset. Weakness because Schaffer suggests that a specific attachment must be formed in the first instance before multiple attachments are formed.

Question 27

research into the role of the father (A01) -Play

Answer 27

Grossman carried out a longitudinal study where the findings showed that the fathers role in attachment is more to do with play and stimulation and less to do with the nurturing Gieger found that the fathers play interactions were more boisterous than with their mums.

Question 28

Research into the role of the father (A01) -Level of responsiveness

Answer 28

Field found that when the fathers were the primary caregiver, they are found to spend more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than secondary caregiver fathers. Hence, the key to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness and not the gender of the parent Lamb found children prefer interacting with feathers when they are in a positive emotional state but with mothers when they are distressed and need comfort. It was also found that when the father becomes the sole caregiver, he quickly become more sensitive to the needs and emotional states of their children.

Question 29

Summary: what does the research into the role of the father suggest?

Answer 29

This indicates that the gender of a caregiver is not crucial in predicting attachment quality. rather it is the extent of caregiver involvement.

Question 30

Evaluation of research into the role of the father (plan)

Answer 30

(+)Practical applications (-)Not objective (+)Longitudinal research (-)Socially sensitive research

Question 31

Evaluation of research into the role of the father (+)Practical applications

Answer 31

Led to PA, such as male partner involvement in antenatal classes, and the birthing process. By valuing fathers more, men feel more able to be sensitive to the needs of their children. This leads to better attachments which in turn leads to better social and emotional development of children. Strength because it improves the quality of life for people as adults and reduces problems for people in later life which also reduces costs in the health and legal systems.

Question 32

Evaluation of research into the role of the father (-)Not objective

Answer 32

Social biases may prevent objective research into this area. Preconceptions about how fathers behave are created by common discussion. These stereotypes (e.g. that they are more playful, stricter) may cause unintentional observer bias. Limitation of research into the ROTF because the conclusions drawn may be due to bias and therefore lack internal validity. Therefore, the research doesn't demonstrate a valid representation of the ROTF.

Question 33

Evaluation of research into the role of the father (+)Longitudinal research

Answer 33

Strength of Grossmans research into the ROTF is that it was carried out longitudinally. The same families were followed up at three points over a ten year period (as opposed to different children at varying ages at the same time). Strength because the findings of the study will not be affected by confounding variables such as individual differences and therefore have high internal. Therefore, Grossmans study is strong evidence to support that the ROTF is different to that of the mother and strengthens the validity of the claim that the ROTF is more involved in play and stimulation.

Question 34

Evaluation of research into the role of the father (-)Socially sensitive research

Answer 34

Limitation of Grossmans study into the ROTF is that it could be seen to be socially sensitive in nature. The suggestion that a mothers role is more related to nurturing and a fathers role is more related to play could be distressing for some people as not everyone is raised with both a mother and a father and could therefore feel that their upbringing was inadequate based on these findings. Limitation because family structures vary greatly in the modern day, and parents and children alike should be assured that they can develop perfectly and healthily no matter what their circumstances, and the key to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness not the gender of the parent.

Question 35

Economic implications of research into the ROTF

Answer 35

A better understanding of the ROTF that is not influenced by gender stereotypes allows for economic benefits to society. For example, mothers have increasingly returned to work after their maternity leave, with the child being provided with an alternative form of childcare. There is a growing awareness of the ROTF during paternity leave, with the 2015 changes to allowing shared parental leave. This means that more mothers remain economically active, placing less of a strain on social services and giving them economic freedom. Gender pay gaps my also be reduced if parental roles are regarded as equal.

Question 36

what types of biased is the body of research which claims that females are inherently better at caring for their offspring than men and why?

Answer 36

alpha biased as it exaggerates the differences between the genders regarding attachment, and some of the research claims these differences to be fixed e.g., oestrogen as the biological reason behind female nurturing.

Question 37

Define imprinting

Answer 37

An innate readiness to develop a strong bond with the mother which takes place during a specific time in development, probably the first few hours after birth/hatching. If it doesn't happen within this time, it probably will not happen. It occurs even without feeding.

Question 38

A01 animal imprinting Lorenz