Attachment L1

Question 1

What is developmental psychology?

Answer 1

A branch of psychology concerned with the progressive behavioural changes that occur in individuals across their lifespan.

Question 2

Define attachment in the context of caregiver-infant interactions.

Answer 2

An emotional bond between two people that is a two-way process and endures over time.

Question 3

What is reciprocity in caregiver-infant interactions?

Answer 3

A two-way interaction/mutual process between caregiver and child, often referred to as turn-taking. The behaviour of one party elicits a response from the other party.

Question 4

What is interactional synchrony?

Answer 4

A simultaneous, co-ordinated sequence of movements, communication and/or emotions between a caregiver and infant.

Question 5

At what age did Meltzoff and Moore find evidence of interactional synchrony in infants?

Answer 5

As young as two or three weeks old.

Question 6

What was the method used by Meltzoff and Moore to study interactional synchrony?

Answer 6

An adult model displayed facial expressions or hand movements while a dummy was placed in the infant’s mouth.

Following the display of the adult model, the dummy was removed and the infants expressions were recorded. An association between the infant’s behaviour and the adult model

Question 7

What did Murray and Trevarthen (1985) demonstrate about infants’ desire for interaction?
AO3

Answer 7

Babies want their mothers to reciprocate; they showed distress when their mother was not responding.

Question 8

What did Abravanal and DeYong (1991) find regarding infants’ responses to non-human stimuli?
AO3

Answer 8

Infants made little response to a puppet mimicking human mouth movements, indicating interactional synchrony is a specific social response.

Question 9

What is a limitation in determining an infant’s intentions?
AO3

Answer 9

Infants cannot use language to communicate, making psychologists be heavily reliant on inferences and this can lead to a bias

Question 10

Difficulties when Researching Infants

Answer 10

1) Studies have found that attachment behaviours are stronger in Laboratory settings and therefore should be taken place in a home environment to increase validity
2)Research into Caregiver-Infant interactions are observational meaning they are heavily reliant on inferences. This can lead to biases
3)Practical issues can arise. Infants may fall asleep or need to feed
4) Extra care needs to be taken. Protection from harm and confidentiality

Question 11

How can observer bias be countered?

Answer 11

By using more than one observer to ensure interrater reliability.