Attachment

Question 1

Define interactional Synchrony

Answer 1

Adults and babies respond in time, mirroring each other, to sustain communication

Question 2

Define reciprocity

Answer 2

A two way caregiver infant process where each party responds to the other elicit a response

Question 3

What was the Aim of Meltzoff and Moores study?

Answer 3

To investigate how early infants are able to mirror adults (interactional synchrony)

Question 4

What method was used in meltzoff and moores interactional synchrony study?

Answer 4

Six infants aged 12-21 days were shown 3 facial gestures and one manual gesture. Their responses were recorded and presented to neutral observers who scored them

Question 5

What were the results and conclusion of Meltzoff and Moores interactional Synchrony study?

Answer 5

The results showed that infants of this young age were able to mirror all 4 gestures so it suggests that synchronised behaviours are innate

Question 6

What was the aim of Brazleton et als study?

Answer 6

To investigate the reciprocal social interactions between mothers their young children

Question 7

What method was used by Brazleton et al in their reciprocity study?

Answer 7

12 mother infant pairs were seen repeatedly over a 5 month span during which they were videotaped and coded. Mothers would come from behind a curtain to play with their infant for 3 minutes then the mother would leave for 30 seconds then return for another 3 minute interaction, however the mother remained still faced this time

Question 8

What were the findings from Brazleton Et als study into reciprocity?

Answer 8

When mothers carried out face to face interaction, infants moved in smooth circular patterns, however when still faced infants movements became jerky and averted their mothers glaze, followed by a short period of attempting to get their mothers attention

Question 9

What was concluded from Brazleton et als reciprocity study?

Answer 9

Reciprocal behaviours are crucial to attachment formation

Question 10

What are the evaluation points for caregiver infant interactions? AO3

Answer 10

++ supporting research (brazleton / meltzoff and moore
+ well controlled procedures
- low population

Question 11

How is it a strength that supporting research of reciprocity and interactional synchrony have well controlled procedures? AO3

Answer 11

P: a strength of research is that it is a controlled observation and therefore is a highly controlled procedure
E: the interactions are filmed from different angles which means fine details can be recorded and analysed
E: this is a strength of research into caregiver infant interactions because several researchers can rewatch the clips to ensure all behaviour is recorded
L: therefore findings about caregiver interactions have high internal validity

Question 12

How is a limitation of supporting research into caregiver interaction that they have low population validity? AO3

Answer 12

P: a criticism of the research into caregiver infant interactions is that the supporting research has low population validity
E: meltzoff and Moores sample consisted of 6 infants and Brazleton studied 12 mother infant pairs which are both relatively small sample sizes which may not be representative
E: this is a limitation because the findings about caregiver interactions may be difficult to generalise to other infants so conclusions drawn may not be valid
L: therefore this reduces the validity of the claim that caregivers and infants communicate via interactional synchrony and reciprocity

Question 13

According to Schaffer and Emerson what % of infants firm their first attachment with their father?

Answer 13

3%

Question 14

What did Grossmans longitudinal study conclude?

Answer 14

The qualify of attachment with father was less important in the attachment type of teenagers than quality of attachment with their mothers, however the quality of fathers play was related to the children’s attachment which suggests fathers have a different role in attachment, more to do with play and stimulation than nurturing

Question 15

What did Field conclude about gender of caregivers?

Answer 15

The key to attachment relationship is not the gender of the parent but level of responsiveness

Question 16

What did field conclude about the role of the father (hint: positive state / sole caregiver)

Answer 16

Children prefer interacting with fathers when they are in a positive emotional state but with mothers when distressed and need of comfort. When the father is a sole caregiver they adapt quickly to the sensitive emotional needs of the child

Question 17

What are the evaluation points for the role of the father? AO3

Answer 17

+ practical application - antenatal classes
+ grossmans longitudinal study
- not objective
- low population validity (Schaffer and Emerson)

Question 18

How has research into the role of the father produced successful applications in antenatal classes? AO3

Answer 18

P: a strength of research into the role of the father is that it has led to successful application such as male partner involvement in antenatal classes
E: by valuing fathers more, men feel more able to be sensitive to the needs of their children which in turn leads to better social and emotional development of children
E: this is a strength because it improves the quality of life for people as adults and refuses problems later in life which also reduces welfare and NHS costs

Question 19

How is Grossmans longitudinal research a strength of the role of the father? AO3

Answer 19

P: a strength of Grossmans research into the role of the father is that it was carried out longitudinally
E: the same families were followed up at 3 time points over a ten year period
E: this is a strength as the findings will not be affected by confounding variables such as individuals differences so Grossmans study has high internal validity
L: therefore, Grossmans study is strong evident to support that the role of the father is different to the role of the mother since the father is more involved in play and stimulation than nurturing

Question 20

How is a limitation of research into the role of the father that it is not objective? AO3

Answer 20

P: a limitation of research into the role of the father is that social biases may prevent objective research
E: preconceptions about how fathers behave are created by common discussions and these stereotypes may cause unintentional observer bias which leads to observers seeing what they expect rather than reality
E: this is a limitation of the research into the role of the father because the conclusions drawn may be due to bias and lack validity

Question 21

How does research into the role of the father have low population validity? AO3 (Schaffer and Emerson)

Answer 21

P: a limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s research into the role of the father is that it has low population validity
E: the sample consisted of babies from working class families in Glasgow which is a deprived city which is often associated with single mothers or stay at home mothers of which the father is absent in both, so the sample may not be representative of babies from middle class families. These babies may have different experiences in terms of how much time at home they spend with their mother and father
E: this is a limitation because findings about the role of the father may be difficult to generalise to all babies
L: so Schaffer and Emerson’s study is weak evidence to support the claim of the role of the mother and father being different

Question 22

What are the 4 stages of attachment identified by Schaffer?

Answer 22

1. Asocial
2. Indiscriminate
3. Specific / discriminate
4. Multiple

Question 23

What is the asocial stage of attachment?

Answer 23

Whilst babies are happier in the presence of other humans, their behaviour towards humans and other non human objects remains the same

Question 24

What is the indiscriminate stage of attachment?

Answer 24

Babies will show a preference for human and prefer familiar people but will accept attention and affection from all adults equally

Question 25

What is the specific / discriminate stage of attachment?

Answer 25

At this stage both separation and stranger anxiety forms and babies have formed a specific attachment to a caregiver (65% of the time the mother)

Question 26

What is the multiple stage of attachment?

Answer 26

Babies begin to form multiple attachments other to their main attachment

Question 27

What was the aim of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 27

To investigate the age at which attachment forms

Question 28

What method was used in Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 28

Baby and mother pairs were visited every month for their first year and again at 18 months. The mothers were asked questions about their babies reaction when separated from them and in the presence of a stranger

Question 29

What sample was used in Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 29

60 mother baby pairs from Glasgow

Question 30

What were the findings from Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 30

Attachment behaviours were loosely linked to age. By 6-8 months most babies started to show separation anxiety from their attachment figure indicating that their first attachment had formed:
65% with mother
3% with father
27% shared first attachment
By 18 months 87% of the babies had atleast 2 attachments and 31% were attached to 5 or more people

Question 31

What were the 3 conclusions of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 31

1. Attachment develops in different stages
2. The mother is not always the main attachment figure
3. Attachments are formed through those who displayed sensitivity and responsiveness rather than those who spent the most time with the child or who fed the child

Question 32

What are the evaluation points of Schaffers stages of attachment? AO3

Answer 32

+ supported by research (Schaffer and Emerson)
+ longitudinal research
- low population validity
- self report

Question 33

How is being longitudinal a strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s research? AO3

Answer 33

P: a strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s research is that it was carried out longitudinally over 18 months
E: the same children were followed up and observed regularly rather than observing different children so individual differences were avoided
E: this is a strength because the study does not have the issue of individual differences between the participants acting as confounding variables and therefore the findings have internal validity

Question 34

Have does Schaffer and Emerson’s research have low population validity? AO3

Answer 34

P: a limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s research is that it has low population validity
E: the sample consisted of babies from Glasgow, a deprived Scottish city which is often associated with single or stay at home mums. Therefore the sample may not be representative of middle class family where the father is present more
E: this is a limitation of the research because the findings and stages of attachment may be difficult to generalise to all babies in the population
L: so the results have low external validity

Question 35

Why is self report data a limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s study? AO3

Answer 35

P: a limitation of as Schaffer and Emerson’s study is that the data collected was self report from the mothers
E: for example, the mothers might have been less sensitive to their infants protests and are less likely to report them. In addition, the mothers may have given socially desirable answers and may not want to disclose that the child is or is not attached to the father
E: this is a limitation because conclusions drawn about the stages of attachment may lack internal validity

Question 36

How old is a baby in the Asocial Stage of Attachment?

Answer 36

Few weeks old

Question 37

How old is a baby in the indiscriminate stage?

Answer 37

2-7 months

Question 38

How old is a baby in the specific / discriminate stage of attachment?

Answer 38

From 7 months onwarsa

Question 39

When does a baby enter the multiple attachments stage?

Answer 39

Between 8-12 months

Question 40

what was the aim of Lorenz animal imprinting study?

Answer 40

To investigate if a certain attachment behaviour (imprinting) is innate

Question 41

What method was used to Lorenz animal imprinting study?

Answer 41

Lorenz carried out a field experiment with a large clutch of goose eggs which were randomly divided into 2 conditions
Condition 1: half of the eggs were hatched with the mother present and in their natural setting
Condition 2: other half were hatched with lorenz present and when hatched lorenz imitated a mothers quacking sounds
To ensure imprinting had occurred lorenz put all the gosling together under an upturned box and allowed them to mix

Question 42

What did lorenz find from his animal imprinting study?

Answer 42

Lorenz found that when the box was removed the gosling returned to their respective mothers - geese followed the first moving object they saw during a 12-17 hour critical period after hatching

Question 43

What animal did lorenz use in his animal study?

Answer 43

Geese / gosling

Question 44

What animal did Harlow use in his animal study?

Answer 44

Baby rheus monkeys

Question 45

What was the aim of Harlow contact comfort study?

Answer 45

To investigate the importance of contact comfort in understanding attachment behaviours

Question 46

What method was used in Harlows contact comfort study?

Answer 46

Baby rheus monkeys were removed from their real mothers very soon after birth and kept in complete isolation. 16 babies were used in 4 conditions
Condition 1: a cage containing a wire monkey producing milk and a towelling mother producing no milk
Condition 2: a cage containing a wire mother producing no milk and a towelling mother producing milk
Condition 3: a cage containing a wire mother producing milk
Condition 4: a cage containing a towelling mother producing milk
The animals were studied for 165 days and behaviour was recorded including time spent with mother. There were also fear conditions when the monkeys were presented with scary mechanical animals to observe whether they would use their retrospective mothers as a safe base

Question 47

What were the findings of Harlows contact comfort study?

Answer 47

All monkeys spent more time with the cloth mother even when she had no milk and would only go to the wire mother when hungry, once fed returning to the cloth mother. During fear conditions the infant took refuge with the cloth mother as a safe base.

Question 48

What was concluded from Harlows study?

Answer 48

Infants do not develop attachment to the person who feeds them but the person who offers contact comfort

Question 49

What are the evaluation points for animal studies? AO3

Answer 49

+ studies have high control (lorenz and Harlow)
+ practical applications (Harlow)
- difficulty extrapolating
- contradicted by learning theory

Question 50

How do animal studies have high control? AO3

Answer 50

P: a strength of animal studies is that they establish cause and effect.
E: both Harlow and Lorenz had high control over extraneous variables so we can be confident that the IV (wife/cloth mother) / (real mother or lorenz) affected the DV (ammount of time spent with mother) / (what caused the geese to separate into groups)
E: this is a strength as the studies are unlikely to be effected by confounding variables and we can therefore be confident that the findings that contact comfort is important when forming attachment and findings thay imprinting occurs have high internal validity

Question 51

What practical application does Harlows study have? AO3

Answer 51

P: a strength of Harlows study is that his findings have helped social workers understand the importance of early attachment to later development
E: awareness of possible long term risk factors from infant neglect (including effects of monkeys deprivation being permanent and grew up less sociable and more aggressive) means that social workers are better placed to make suitable interventions in the cases of neglect since they know the long term detrimental impact of it
E: this is a strength as humans have benefited from the research and are less likely to develop abnormally since the consistent presence of an early attachment figure has become widely accepted

Question 52

How is difficulty of extrapolation a limitation of animal studies? AO3

Answer 52

P: a limitation of the studies is that they used animals to investigate attachment behaviours
E: lorenz study investigated imprinting using Geese and Harlow investigated contact comfort using baby Rheus monkeys
E: this is a limitation because we might not be able to generalise the results to humans as they might not be able to generalise results to humans as they might not behave the same as geese or monkeys due to differences in complexity of intelligence and communication in humans. As such these studies can’t be used as evidence to help us understand human behaviour

Question 53

How does learning theory contradict animal studies? AO3

Answer 53

P: a limitation of both studies is that their findings are contradicted by learning theory
E: Lorenz found that Gosling made attachment through process of imprinting and Harlow found that contact comfort was important for forming attachment. Learning theory contradicts these findings, claiming that attachment is formed through classical conditioning and operant conditioning on the basis of food and not as a consequence of contract comfort or imprinting
E: this is a limitation because the conclusions drawn by Harlow and Lorenz may not apply to all humans

Question 54

What does Bowlbys theory claim?

Answer 54

Attachment is an innate process that gives a survival advantage

Question 55

Define social releasers

Answer 55

Set of biologically predisposed behaviours on the part of the baby which encourage the adult to feel love towards the child e.g. crying

Question 56

Bowlby claimed there was a critical period. Define this

Answer 56

A short window of opportunity where attachment can form between 6 and 30 months, if an attachment has not developed then it is unlikely one will ever develop

Question 57

What does the monotropic theory suggest?

Answer 57

A child’s emphasis is on one caregiver

Question 58

What is the internal working model?

Answer 58

The infant forms a mental representation of their relationship with their caregiver and this shapes how they form relationships later in life

Question 59

What is the continuity hypothesis?

Answer 59

The treatment of a child by their primary attachment caregiver may well lead them to expecting and accepting similar treatment in relationships later in life

Question 60

What are the evaluation points for Bowlbys Monotropic theory? AO3

Answer 60

+ research support - Hazan and Shaver
- contradictory research - Schaffer and Emerson
- ignores temperament
- contradicted by Learning theory

Question 61

How does Hazan and Shaver support Monotropic theory? AO3

Answer 61

P:a strength of Bowlbys theory is that there’s research to support the continuity hypothesis and the internal working model
E: for example, Hazan and Shaver created a love questionnaire to explore the idea that there is a continuity between early attachment types and quality of romantic relationships. They collected information about their child attachment types and their attitude and experience of adult relationships. They found that those who were securely attached as infants tended to have long lasting adult relationships. On the other hand people who were insecurely attached as infants found adult relationships more difficult
E: this supports the idea that childhood experiences have a significant impact on people’s later relationships and suggests that the continuity hypothesis and internal working model has at least some validity

Question 62

How is Schaffer and Emerson contradictory research? AO3

Answer 62

P: a limitation of Bowlbys theory is that there is evidence to suggest that a monotropic relationship is not as common as Bowlby suggests
E: Schaffer and Emerson found that while most babies did form singular attachments, 27% formed joint attachments
E: this is a limitation because it contradicts the claim that babies naturally form one attachment to a primary caregiver which limits the validity of the explanation

Question 63

How does monotropic theory ignore the importance of temperament? AO3

Answer 63

P: a limitation of Bowlbys monotropic theory is that temperament may be an important factor in the development of later social behaviours
E:temperament can be regarded as a child’s genetically influenced personality. This means that innately some babies are more anxious or sociable than others. Such differences may influence how relationships are conducted throughout life
E: this is a limitation of monotropic theory because if temperament does have a significant impact on how people conduct relationships this would suggest that Bowlby has exaggerated the importance of a child’s early experiences

Question 64

How is monotropic theory contradicted by Learning theory?

Answer 64

P: a limitation of Bowlbys theory of attachment is that it ignores the nurture side of the nature vs nurture debate
E: Bowlbys theory claims that attachment has evolved as a behaviour to enhance survival and is therefore innate whereas learning theory claims attachment is learned through reinforcement and association
E: this is a limitation of Bowlby monotropic theory since it suggests the theory might not be a complete and valid explanation of attachment