Attachment exam questions

Question 1

What is meant by the term attachment ( 2 marks)

Answer 1

Attachment is an emotional bond between two people

Question 2

Name three stages in the development of attachments identified by Schaffer. ( 3 marks)

Answer 2

1. asocial
2. indiscromante attachemnt
3. discriminate attachment
4. multiple attachments

Question 3

Describe one way in which psychologists have investigated caregiver-infant interaction in humans.

Refer to a specific study in your answer. ( 3 marks)

Answer 3

1. Meltzoff and Moore investigated interactional synchrony of babies
2. They observed what a baby would do when shown three facial expressions
3. they recorded what the baby did
4. this was labelled by independent observers

Mark scheme said you would have to refer to the methodology, not the aims or conclusions

Question 4

Evaluate the way of investigating caregiver-infant interaction that you have described in your answer to part (a).

Do not refer to ethical issues in your answer ( 3 marks)

Answer 4

1. A limitation is that it is difficult to know if babies are doing the facial expressions for a reason. This is because babies have bad muscle coordination, so it could be falsely assumed that the baby was doing a facial expression or if they were holding in a sneeze. Therefore studies on international synchrony may have a low validity as it is hard to prove a cause and effect
2. other points include: babies were filmed, so babies cant show demand characteristics, there is high inter-rater reliability as multiple observers can watch the video back, this means the studies have high validity and reliability

Other points include the usefulness of combining data from several studies as in meta-analysis; short-term v long-term effects, the usefulness of controlled experimentation in researching social relationships eg artificiality v cause and effect;

Make sure points are not genric and link fully back to caregiver and infant interactions

Question 5

Some researchers believe that caregiver–infant interactions influence the development of attachment.

Explain one reason why it is difficult to draw conclusions about the role of caregiver–infant interactions in the development of attachment.

( 2 marks)

Answer 5

Likely answers: cannot ever show cause and effect because it is ethically impossible to manipulate the amount/quality of caregiver-infant interaction; extraneous factors such as home environment/substitute care/life events/culture/temperament may have a long term effect on attachment and cannot be controlled.

They would give you one mark for the point and the second for elaborations

Question 6

Ainsworth and Bell observed infants in an unfamiliar room to assess the quality of their attachment to their mother. Observations during this ‘Strange Situation’ related to the following categories of behaviour:

Exploration – how much the infant explored the unfamiliar room;

Separation behaviour – how the infant reacted when the mother left;

Stranger anxiety – the response of the infant to a stranger;

Reunion behaviour – how the infant reacted when the mother returned.

Select two of these categories and explain how the behaviour of securely attached infants and insecurely attached infants would be different in the ‘Strange Situation’. ( 4 marks)

Answer 6

Reunion behaviour

1. when a securely attached infant is reunited with their mother, they let her embrace them and calm them down. However and insecure resistant child would push the mother away and insecure avoidant would not need to be consoled.

Exploration behaviour

2. A securely attached child would look around and then return to their mother using their mother as a safe base. An insecure resistant child would cling onto the mother and not explore the room. An insecure-avoidant child would explore the room but not return to the mother.

Question 7

By observing interactions between the infants and their mothers in a Strange Situation, Mary Ainsworth was able to identify different types of attachment.

Describe possible demand characteristics in this research. ( 3 marks)

Answer 7

Possible demand characteristics may be shown by the mothers, as they may comfort their children more than they usually would when Ainsworth is assessing reunion behaviour. They may do this as they have worked out the aim of the study

Question 8

Outline how Ainsworth studied types of attachment. (2 marks)

Answer 8

Ainsworth conducted a study called the strange situation. she observed how babies would act when left alone by themselves, with a stranger.

Question 9

Some people say that Ainsworth’s studies lacked validity.

Explain this criticism of Ainsworth. ( 3 marks)

Answer 9

It may have lacked validity because it was a lab study, which means there was control of variables, it may be hard to generalise this to real life as a mother would not leave her baby for thirty seconds with a stranger and then come back. Therefore, Ainsworth study lacks ecological validity.

Other points can include its ethnocentric used American infants hard to generalise

Question 10

Apart from ethical issues, explain one or more limitations of using the Strange Situation to assess the type of attachment in young children. ( 4 marks)

Answer 10

1. there may be a cultural bias with the strange situation as attachment styles differ in different parts of the world. There may be more insecurely resistant children in collectivist cultures than individualist cultures. Therefore it may be hard to use the strange situation to assess these attachments types.

Question 11

Give one limitation of the use of the Strange Situation in attachment research. ( 2 marks)

Answer 11

1. Cultural bias - as attachment styles differ universally

others include effects of being in daycare or lacks ecological validity
or ethical issues

Question 12

A researcher used the Strange Situation to investigate the attachment types of two infants. Megan was classified as insecure-avoidant. Rosie was classified as insecure-resistant.

Explain how Megan’s behaviour would differ from Rosie’s behaviour in the Strange Situation. ( 4 marks)

Answer 12

Megan would feel indifferent to a stranger being in a room whereas Rose would cling to her mother. Megan would explore the room and not return to her mother, whereas Rosie would stay near to her mother the whole time. During reunion behaviour, Meghan would not need to be consoled whereas when Rosie is being consoled she would push her mother away.

Question 13

Outline what research has shown about cultural variations in attachment ( 4 marks)

Answer 13

1. Research has shown that there is more intraspecific variation compared to interspecific variation. An example of this could be when the strange situation was carried out in America 40% were secure in one study compared to 90% in another study. The research has also shown that the most common attachment type globally is a secure attachment, as this was the most frequent attachment type for each country studied

Question 14

Describe and evaluate Ainsworth’s work on attachment. As part of your evaluation, you should refer to the work of at least one other researcher. (16 marks)

Answer 14

Plan

A01- Paragraphs

1. Procedure
   - placed the babies into 7 different episodes, each one was about 30 seconds
2. observed the babies using a two-way mirror
3. another observer present to assess attachment type
4. they observed things like exploration, reunion behaviour, stranger anxiety, separation anxiety

Para 2 - Findings: Type A, Type B and Type C

AO3: strengths
Good reliability: P: Good reliability/ E: Bick et Al watched trained observers of the strange situation s 94% gave the same response E/ high inter-rater reliability, is due to babies behaviour is easy to observe and be categorised, could give example /L: this can be used across different cultures

Good internal validity: It was done in lab/ E- controlled how long the episodes were /E-can show a cause and effect relationship baby behaviour and the situation/ L-study has high internal validity. CP- lacks ecological validity/ demand characteristics by mothers

Good predictable validity: ward said secure babies more emotionally stable etc

A03: Limitations
Ethnocentric: P: ethnocentric E-Takahehsi and his findings/ E- child-rearing is different in Japan, an example of why/ L:

Attachment Type 4: Main and Solomon/ E: found that disorganised attachment was a mix of resistant and avoided behaviours/ E- this raises the question that Ainsworth attachment types incomplete, but its an unusual attachment type, due to neglect and abuse/ L- so could be agreed that due to its unusualness that Ainsworth attachment categories are correct for normal attachment types

Temperament- Kagan e Al said that babies behaviour may be due to high levels of anxiety/behaviours seen may have not been representative of attachment type but rather of temperament. L/ what does Ainsworth study actually measure

Other points ethical etc

Question 15

Outline and evaluate research into cultural variations in attachment. (16 marks)

Answer 15

AO1: Van injenzoddon and Kronenberg- meta-analysis based on 32 studies of the strange situation around the world. 18 was in America,

Para 2: Findings/ there is more intraspecific variation rather than interspecific. Secure attachments are the most common across all countries studied/give examples like China and the UK etc

Para 3: Other studies of cultural variation/ Simonella et al/ more tye A in Italy because mothers are going to work. Grossman et Al found more type As in Germany because germans prefer independent children. Jin et al only one Type As in Korea because children don’t separate from mothers

AO3- Strengths

P-less cultural bias E: Researchers from a country of origin example Takahashi is from japan /E-they understand their culture and will be able to correctly classify children and overcome any language barriers/L- increases the validity of data collected

A03 - Limitations

P: confounding variables E: Studies are not matched for methodology, for example, environmental factors, poverty etc/E- the room or area the study was done may have been small so it would be hard to observe proximity seeking behaviour, as the baby may not return so could be called avoidnet/L: hard to compare attachment types across culture because results may be heavily influenced by confounding variables

P: there may be imposed etic. E: in SS in the UK or Us being clingy to the mother may be classed as insecure resistant whereas in Japan it may be normal as the child is always with their mother. E: This is bad because it would be hard to compare attachments across cultures as some behaviours may be seen as normal to one culture but abnormal to another/L-researchers should find another way of comparing attachments types as using the strange situation may be meaningless

Question 16

Learning theory provides one explanation of attachment. It suggests that attachment will be between an infant and the person who feeds it. However, the findings of some research studies do not support this explanation.

Outline research findings that challenge the learning theory of attachment. ( 4 marks)

Answer 16

Harlow and Harlow
tested what would happen with no love, found that babies preferred cloth mother over wire mother, this was shown by the fact they spent 22 hours on cloth mother a day, and only 2 hours being fed by wire mother.

Can also use Schaffer and Emerson- conducted a study on 100 babies from Glasgow. Found that babies become attached to the person who responds to their cues, not the person who feeds them. So 65% of the time this person was the mother.

( 1 mark for study and another for outlining the finding) could condense the top bit but yeah

Question 17

One theory about how and why babies form attachments is Bowlby’s monotropic theory.
Outline and evaluate Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment.

(could be 8 or 16 marker)
For 16 marks 3 AO1s and 4 AO3s
For 8 I think its two and two

Answer 17

Outline (AO1)

• based on harlow and lorenz
• has evolunatry basis
• attach in order to survive

Para 2
Monotropic theory- Infants attach to one person usually the mother, they show safe base behaviour towards the mother etc
Social realses- babies coo,cry in order to get attention

Para 3- critical period is up to 2 and 1half years, if attahment is not formed then it can affect the internal working model
internal working model- cognitive framework based on your first attachment with your primary caregiver. Who you attached with them will give an indication of how you will approach future relationships etc

Evaluate (AO3)

• conflcting evidence of multiple attachments schaffer and emerson
• bailey et al for internal working model 99 mothers
• social sensitivity- feminist, says too much pressure on women, but CP- Bowlby illsuatred impornatce of mothers so may have helped many people in custordy battles
• evidnce for social relases-brazelton et al - babies lie motionless, show how important social relaes are

Question 18

Outline and evaluate learning theory

could be 8 or 16 marks

Answer 18

Outline (AO1)

Dollard and Miller came up with the learning theory of attachment

Classical conditing explanation- food (stimulus) response (pleasure) then the mother is paired with stimulus and response, long story short mother is now associated with pleasure.

Operant conditioning- if the baby cries (primary reinforcement) then the reward will be food. If the mother hears a baby cry, then she will give the baby food an example of negative reinforcement, as given food will stop something unpleasant which is crying

Sears et al suggested the idea of drive reduction theory. Hunger is a primary drive, it is innate etc. But the secondary drive will help you receive your primary drive, meaning attachment. So a baby will form an attachment in order to satisfy their primary drive.

AO3-

Strength - face validity: it’s easy to understand. As some conditioning may be involved a baby may associate comfort with a certain attachment figure and therefore when sad will go to that attachment figure in order to feel better. Link/this shows how LToA can be used to understand everyday behaviour.

Limitation- conflicting evidence from animal studies ( Harlow and Harlow) - 22 hours a day on cloth mother, babies want to love more than food. CP- hard to generalise finding studies done on animals/different cognitive framework need etc

Limitation- Conflicting evidence: Schaffer and Emerson- human babies- attached to a person who responded to their cues, not the person who spent the most time with them or fed them. E/shows how factors like food do not form the basis of an attachment, babies need more L/questions the validity of this explanation

SLT- Hay and Vespo could a better explanation. SLT does not reduce attachment down to food and pleasure, for example, they believe that love can be modelled, by things like hugging. This theory can help explain things like reciprocity and international synchrony. However, SLt finds it hard to explain how these are important, or why this thing like reciprocity and international synchrony are found among humans and animals. This presents the question of whether the attachment is based on nature and not nurture

Question 19

Briefly discuss one limitation of using animals to study attachment in humans. ( 4 marks)

Answer 19

A limitation is that it hard to generalise findings onto humans this is because animals and humans don’t have the same cognitive framework. Therefore we may attach for different reasons compared to animals, as human behaviour is complex. So linking humans to animals may over-simplify reasons why we attach

Question 20

Outline the procedure used in one study of animal attachment. ( 4 marks)

Answer 20

Lorenz wanted to study how geese attach. He took some eggs from geese and spoke to them every day. then when the eggs were about to hatch he made sure the first that the geese saw was him so he imprints them onto the geese. Lorenz also had a control group who imprinted to actual geese to compare findings.

Question 21

Describe and evaluate the animal studies of attachment (16 marks)

Answer 21

Lorenz-half eggs hatched incubator who saw him first, other half hatched in a natural environment with their mother. Experimental group imprinted onto Lorenz
Findings critical period of 90 days to attach to a mother else the duck will find it hard to survive

Harlow wanted to see whether a baby could survive without love. Monkeys cloth and wire, split monkey into different groups. Wire monkey provided food only, cloth provided comfort. when shown scary mechanical figure monkeys would run to cloth mother for comfort, not wire mother.

Harlow said that there is a critical period of 90 days/if not attachment/damage is done. Also found that monkeys who were only with cloth mother, or failed to attach, when placed with other monkeys were social outcasts, would mutilate themselves, rock back and forth, also female mothers would find it difficult to mate or be a decent mother.

AO3- Limitation
Hard to generalise findings, humans don’t imprint to the first person they see, so hard to apply Lorenz results. But rhesus monkeys have a closer evolutionary relationship with humans, so it’s easier but still animals and humans are different as humans have more complex behaviours.

for Lorenz there is supporting evidence; Regolin et al showed geese shape combinations that moved like a moving triangle, when shown other shapes they would only follow the moving triangle. this shows how chicks have an innate need to imprint. CP- that this can be reversed within the critical period

Real-life applications for harlow- Helped clinical psychologist and social workers understand the importance of bonding. Howe said able to intervene before lasting damage happens to children, also used in zoos, l/harlows evidence has a practical understanding

ethical issues- some of the Rhesus monkey’s went through psychological trauma, and stress. This then caused long term effects on the monkies which raises the question as if using monkies was justified. It could be argued that the cost outweighs benefits because search like harlows has practical application and made us understand the impronatce of bonding

Question 22

Describe and evaluate Lorenz (8 marks)

Answer 22

Lorenz-half eggs hatched incubator who saw him first, other half hatched in a natural environment with their mother. Experimental group imprinted onto Lorenz

next para- findings- geese have a critical period of 90 days if they don’t become attached then they won’t survive. Also, sexual imprinting, Lorenz peacock, tortoise, peacocks and tortoise try to mate

for Lorenz there is supporting evidence; Regolin et al showed geese shape combinations that moved like a moving triangle, when shown other shapes they would only follow the moving triangle. this shows how chicks have an innate need to imprint. CP- that this can be reversed within the critical period

Then genralisblity

Question 23

Descirbe and evlaute harlow (8 marks)

Answer 23

Harlow wanted to see whether a baby could survive without love. Monkeys cloth and wire, split monkey into different groups. Wire monkey provided food only, cloth provided comfort. when shown scary mechanical figure monkeys would run to cloth mother for comfort, not wire mother.

Harlow said that there is a critical period of 90 days/if not attachment/damage is done. Also found that monkeys who were only with cloth mother, or failed to attach, when placed with other monkeys were social outcasts, would mutilate themselves, rock back and forth, also female mothers would find it difficult to mate or be a decent mother.

Real-life applications for harlow- Helped clinical psychologist and social workers understand the importance of bonding. Howe said able to intervene before lasting damage happens to children, also used in zoos, l/harlows evidence has a practical understanding

ethical issues- some of the Rhesus monkey’s went through psychological trauma, and stress. This then caused long term effects on the monkies which raises the question as if using monkies was justified. It could be argued that the cost outweighs benefits because search like harlows has practical application and made us understand the importance of bonding

or generalisability

Question 24

Discuss the effects of institutionalisation. Refer to the studies of Romanian orphans in your answer. ( 16 marks)

Answer 24

A01- Rutter- found that adopt below 6 months will catch up by 4 years, after will take longer, low IQs at 86 compared to about 102 on the control group. Also found that orphans were undernourished and showed signs of disinhibited attachment

Zeanah et al- did the strange situation and found compared to the control group only 19% were securely attached compared to 74%, also found that 44% had a disinhibited attachment

findings compared to 20% of controls - disinhibited attachment, more clingy due to neglect, during the critical period were unable to form an attachment (privation)

A03

fewer confounding variables compared to other studies, CP- institutions had inadequate care so may not be representative of all institutions in general, so hard to generalise findings. Findings show what happens when there is poor care

real-life application- institutions have key workers, also fostering si more desirable than acre homes

limitation- does not tell us about long term effects of parenting, relationships

social sensitivity - people may not choose to adopt over a certain age range etc

Question 25

Joe was taken away from his alcoholic parents at six months old and placed in care. He was adopted when he was seven years old but has a difficult relationship with his adoptive parents. He is aggressive towards his younger siblings and is often in trouble at school. His last school report said, ‘Joe struggles with classwork and seems to have little regard for the feelings of others.’

Discuss Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory. Refer to the experience of Joe as part of your discussion.

Answer 25

Plan

AO1- para 1: separation and deprivation, so what is separation and what si deprivation, give examples also include the law of calculation and law of continuity

para 2- 44 thieves study and control group, 14 out of 44 were affectionless psychopaths, also 12 spent more than 6 months away in the first 2 years of life Only 1 person in the control group.

Para 3- Intelluctal development - so low IQ support from Goldfarb’s study
-affectionless- psychopathy found it hard to show guilt

AO3-

strength- real-life applications, changed rules on mothers visiting hospitals as time way could be detrimental on babies, so positive effect on life

Conflicting evidence on critical period- Kolochova- Czech twins -18 months to 7 years abuse, with help they recovered fully but the time they were teenagers, so instead of critical; period its a sensitive period

flawed evidence- Bowlby carried out his own study, may have been open to bias, as he knew who would show psychopathy. Also, correlation is not causation there could confounding variables as to why they showed this and it may have not been due to maternal deprivation

lewis et al- unable to replicate the study, looked at 500 young people found no association so questions validity of md, CP: more recent research Gao et al found an association between poor maternal care psychopathy.

Question 26

Outline and evaluate the role of the father

Answer 26

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