attachment

Question 1

what is attachment

Answer 1

strong emotional bond that develops over time, bond has to be 2 ways with frequent interactions and desire to be with each other

Question 2

what are the three characteristics involved in attachment

Answer 2

proximity - stay psychically close to person
separation distress - show distress when separated
secure base behaviour - when we are independent of attachment yet still make regular contact

Question 3

what is reciprocity?

Answer 3

description of how 2 people interact, mother infant interactions is reciprocal in that both infant and mother respond to each others signals and edict a response from the other

Question 4

what is interactional synchrony?

Answer 4

when two people interact they tend to mirrorwhat the other is doing in terms of facial and body movements

Question 5

describe meltzoff and Moore (1977) study on interactional synchrony

Answer 5

conducted first systematic study on interactional synchrony

found infants as young as 2 weeks imitated specific facial/hand gestures

this study was done by having an adult do 3 face/hand gestures. they found that there was an association between the infant behaviour and adults

Question 6

why did jean Piaget believe interactional synchrony was pseudo imitation

Answer 6

although meltzoff and Moore proposed imitation was intentional Piaget (1962) believed that true imitation only develops at the end of the first year and anything before that is response training e.g repeating previous behaviour that was rewarded

Question 7

what are strengths of caregiver - infant interaction studies?

Answer 7

babies unaware they are being filmed so no demand characteristics giving research good validity

controlled observations capture fine detail - filmed from a multitude of angles allows for fine detail to be picked up and analysed.

Question 8

how do individual differences affect caregiver-infant studies

Answer 8

Isabella et al (1989) fond more strongly attached carer-infant pairs showed greater interactional synchrony. this tells us there are significant individual differences but doesn’t indicate the cause.

Question 9

describe the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson (1964) study on stages of attachment

Answer 9

conducted a longitudinal study on 60 Glasgow middle class infants

children all studied in their homes with interactions with carer being observed then carers interviewed

mothers kept a diary of infants reaction to separation e.g left in a room, being put down

Question 10

what where the results of the Schaffer and Emerson (1964) study

Answer 10

found the babies attachment developed in a sequence

up to 3 months - indiscriminate attachment predisposed to attach to any human

after 4 months - preference for certain people can distinguish primary/secondary caregiver

after 7 months - special preference for single attachment show stranger anxiety

after 9 months - multiple attachments become more independent

Question 11

what conclusions can be made from Schaffer and Emersons (1964) study

Answer 11

attachments are likely to form best to people who respond best to babies signals

Question 12

what is the first stage of attachment known as?

Answer 12

indiscriminate attachment - up to 3 months show greater presence for social stimuli

Question 13

what is the second stage of attachment known as?

Answer 13

beginnings of attachment - after 4 months prefer human company over inanimate objects

Question 14

what is the third stage of attachment known as?

Answer 14

discriminate attachment - 7 months show separation/stranger anxiety

Question 15

what is the fourth stage of attachment known as?

Answer 15

multiple attachments - after 9 months develops wider circle of attachments

Question 16

why does Schaffer and Emersons (1964) study have good external validity

Answer 16

study was carried out in the families home and most of observations done by parents so no stranger anxiety playing a role

Question 17

what is paternal involvement?

Answer 17

amount of time fathers spend interacting being accessible or directly involved in daily care of their child

Question 18

how do economic factors affect paternal involvement?

Answer 18

in parts of the world men have to work hundreds of miles away therefor impossible to be involved as they have to provide

Question 19

how do cultural factors affect paternal involvement

Answer 19

men where expected to be breadwinners and not involved with care although involved in order to mentor, guide and play with child

Question 20

how do biological factors affect paternal involvement

Answer 20

men usually lack the emotional sensitivity that women offer and therefor less attractive to the child

Question 21

describe Lamb’s (1987) study findings on the role of the father

Answer 21

found children often prefer interacting with the father when in a positive emotional state

mothers are preferred when child is in a distressed state and seeks comfort. supporting the findings that fathers being preferred as playmates

Question 22

what were the findings when children have secure attachments to their father

Answer 22

children go onto have better relationships with peers, less problem behaviours and can regulate emotions better

Question 23

describe freeman et al (2010) study on paternal involvement

Answer 23

found male children are likely to prefer they father as attachment figure than female children

also found children are likely to be attached to fathers during late childhood

Question 24

why do we conduct animal studies

Answer 24

so we can test things that may be harmful to humans

Question 25

advantages of using animal studies

Answer 25

researchers can control animals environment

Question 26

disadvantages of using animal studies

Answer 26

animals act differently to humans and therefor cannot be accurately generalised to humans

Question 27

what is imprinting? (Konrad Lorenz 1935)

Answer 27

a innate readiness to develop a strong bond with mother which usually takes place during the first few hours after birth

Question 28

what is the critical period (Konrad Lorenz 1935)

Answer 28

biologically determined period of time during which certain characteristics can develop outside the window

Question 29

what was Lorenz (1935) procedure for his study on imprinting

Answer 29

split a large clutch of goose eggs into 2 batches
ones that hatched naturally and the other birthed in incubators

Lorenz made sure he was the first thing the newly hatched geese saw

lorenz marked all the geese so he could tell the difference then put a box over them geese before lifting it off again and recorded the behaviours

Question 30

what where the findings of Lorenz’s study (1935)

Answer 30

immediately after birth naturally hatched geese followed their mother
incubator geese followed Lorenz

the bonds seemed to be irreversible
Lorenz stated how imprinting would only occur within a brief set period of time

Question 31

how does Gaiton (1966) study support imprinting - evaluation

Answer 31

Gain demonstrated that chicks exposed to yellow gloves whilst being fed during the first few weeks became imprinted on gloves. this supports the view that young animals aren’t born with a predisposition to imprint on a specific object but on something that can move that is present during development stage

Question 32

describe the procedure of harlows (1959) study on comfort v food (animals)

Answer 32

mothers separated from mothers at birth and placed in cages with access to two surrogate mothers, one made of wire and the other made of cloth.

there where 4 conditions they could be placed in 1. wire monkey with milk cloth without
2. cloth monkey producing milk wire not
3. just a wire monkey producing milk
4. just a cloth monkey producing milk
monkey as then scared to see what mother he ran to

Question 33

what where the findings of harlows study comfort v food (1959)

Answer 33

monkeys preferred contact with the cloth monkey when given a choice regardless if they produced food or not. they showed signs of stress when left with wire monkey

Question 34

what conclusions can be made on harlows study on comfort v food (1959)

Answer 34

attachment concerns emotional security rather than food. this tells us infants don’t form attachments to those who feed them rather who offers comfort contact

Question 35

evaluate harlows comfort v food study (1959) on generalising results of animal studies

Answer 35

the ultimate aim of animal studies is to be able to generalise the conclusions to humans however we differ in many ways e.g having a conscious therefor it can be hard to generalise however Schaffer and Emerson (1964) backs up harlows findings as infants are more attached to comfort rather than who feeds them

Question 36

what where the Long lasting effects harlows study (1959) had on the monkeys (disadvantages ethical issues)

Answer 36

they where socially abnormal - fled or froze when approached

they where sexually abnormal - didn’t show normal mating behaviour

Question 37

what is classical conditioning - the learning theory

Answer 37

learning by association

food is an unconditional stimulus that produces an unconditional response
at outset caregiver is a neutral stimulus who produces no response
due to caregiver being paired with unconditional stimulus (food) through feeding they become associated so eventually mother can produce pleasure alone
the pleasure she brings is a conditioned response

Question 38

what is operant conditioning - the learning theory

Answer 38

learning by reinforcement (learning to repeat behaviour)

dollars and millar (1950) found a hungry infant feels uncomfortable and this creates an urge to reduce discomfort

any behaviour that results in punishment (unpleasant consequences) unlikely to be repeated

food is a primary reinforcer as it directly satisfies hunger

person who supplies food is the secondary reinforcer

Question 39

what problem did Schaffer and Emersons (1964) study show with the learning theory

Answer 39

found in 39% of cases the mother wasn’t the babies main attachment figure suggesting feeding is not the primary explanation for attachment going against TLT

Question 40

describe Bowlbys theory of attachment

Answer 40

infants form one main attachment (monotropy) that attachment then provide an internal working model for future attachments that infants need to attach within the critical period (2 1/2 years)or there may be long lasting negative consequences

Question 41

why do attachments form - bowlbys theory

Answer 41

important survival function - infant who is less attached = less protected

attachments go two ways parents must also be attached to their infants in order to ensure children are cared for and survive

Question 42

what is the critical period - bowlby’s theory

Answer 42

babies have an innate drive to be attached during critical period of 3-6 months bowl by says sensitivity determines attachment

Question 43

what is monotropy (bowlby)

Answer 43

when babies form one very special emotional attachment with mother or substitute mother like a nana

Question 44

what are social releasers

Answer 44

social behaviour that elects caregiver and leads to attachment
as it makes the adult want to care for them e.g baby face, crying and laughing

Question 45

what is the internal working model

Answer 45

through the monotropy attachment baby forms an internal working model which is a mental model enabling individual to predict and control their environment regarding attachment

Question 46

what is the continuity hypothesis

Answer 46

individuals who are strongly attached in infancy continue to be socially and emotionally competent whereas those who aren’t strongly attached in infancy have more social and emotional difficulties in life

Question 47

evaluate the claim on bowlbys theory that its a sensitive period rather than a critical period

Answer 47

according to bowl by its not possible to form attachments beyond critical period. studies show its less likely attachments will form after this period but still possible. researchers use the term sensitive period rather than critical period as its still possible

Question 48

evaluate how their was been mixed evidence for monotropy (bowlbys theory)

Answer 48

bowlby believed babies generally form one special attachment to primary caregiver and only after this attachment was established could the child form multiple attachments

this is not supported by Schaffer and Emerson (1964) who found a significant majority of infants could form multiple attachments at same time