Attachments 1-4

Question 1

What is reciprocity?

Answer 1

Taking turns to respond in a rhythmic pattern

Question 2

How did Brazelton describe reciprocity?

Answer 2

As a dance

Couples dance where each partner respond to each other’s moves

Question 3

What is interactional synchrony?

Answer 3

Coordinated behaviours that are simultaneous (like a mirror)

Question 4

Who studied interactional synchrony?

Answer 4

Meltzoff

Moore

Question 5

Describe Meltzoff and Moores procedure.

What was found?

Answer 5

-Controlled observation
-for stimuli (three different faces and hand gesture)
Observed behaviour of infants in response. The dummy was placed in infants mouth during initial display to prevent a response then it was removed and the Childs expression was filmed on video.
A positive correlation was found

Question 6

Why is it good that in the interactional synchrony study the responses were filmed?

Answer 6

-They could be slow motion and watch the frame by frame if necessary. And can be judged by independent observers who had no knowledge of what the infants had seen

Question 7

What were the observers asked to note down?

Answer 7

All instances of infant tongue prostrutions and head movements in the following catergories:

• Mouth opening
• Termination of mouth opening
• tongue prostration
• termination of tongue prostration

Question 8

What did Isabella find?

Answer 8

High levels of interaction all synchrony lead to better quality attachments.

Question 9

What is the evaluation of caregiver infant interactions through reciprocity and interactional synchrony?

Answer 9

+lab study so high control over variables, no demand characteristics and filmed allowing further analysis

-hard to observe babies and differentiate
(General/innate activity vs specific imitations)
::meanings are assumed

• koepke couldn’t replicate meaning it’s less reliable
• Individual differences such as personality
• developmental importance? Doesn’t help purpose of behaviour and doesn’t show whether it’s important for development. (BUT Isabella found out it is)
• value of research-studying this shows how it forms the basis of social development

Question 10

Who studied the stages of attachment?

Answer 10

Schaffer and Emerson

Question 11

What was the procedure for how an attachment develops?

Answer 11

-60 babies (31M and 29F)
-Born into skilled working-class families
-5 to 23 weeks old
We visited every four weeks for the first year and then again at 18 months.
A mixture of overt observations and interviews were conducted, and a mother kept a diary of her child’s behaviour.
Each visit the mother had to report the infants response to separation in seven everyday situations

Question 12

What were the seven every day situations in Schaffer and Emersons study?

Answer 12

• Left alone in the room
• left with other people
• left in pram outside house
• left in pram outside shops
• left in cot at night
• put down after being held by an adult
• passed by while sitting on the cot or chair

Question 13

What was the mother asked to describe in Schaffer and Emerson study?

Answer 13

Intensity of protest
(rated on a four point scale)
And for whom the protest was directed at

Question 14

What were the two types of specific attachment behaviour is measured in Schaffer and Emerson study?

Answer 14

Separation protest (anxiety)
Stranger anxiety

Question 15

What is separation protest (anxiety)?

Answer 15

Distress shown by an infant when separated from his caregiver

Question 16

What is stranger anxiety?

Answer 16

Distress shown by an infant when approached or picked up by someone who is unfamiliar

Question 17

In Schaffer and Emerson study with whom do babies first form attachments?

Answer 17

65%-mother
30%-jointly mother and one other figure
3%-father
27%-father and mother jointly

Question 18

What were the stages in the development of attachment? And between what ages?

Answer 18

-Pre- attachment phase (birth-3 m)
-Indiscriminate attachment (3- 6/7 m)
-specific/discriminate attachments (7/8 m)
– multiple attachments (9m+)

Question 19

What were the characteristics of stage 1 From the stages in the development of attachments?

Answer 19

0-six weeks (asocial stage) where baby behave similarly to humans and inanimate objects
From six weeks onwards they become more attracted to other humans preferring them to objects.
Towards the end they prefer familiarity

Question 20

What are the characteristics of stage 2 of the stages in the development of attachments?

Answer 20

Recognise and prefer familiar adults
Usually accept comfort and hugs from any adult
Don’t usually show separation protest or stranger anxiety and don’t really show any preference towards one adult

Question 21

What are the characteristics of stage 3 of stages in the development of attachments?

Answer 21

Prefers familiar people
Distinctly different sort of protest when a particular person puts them down (separation anxiety)
Form specific attachment (primary attachment figure)
Also show stranger anxiety

Question 22

What are the characteristics of stage 4 of the stages in development of attachment?

Answer 22

Multiple attachments depending on how many consistent relationships he has.
The study found that within one month of first becoming attached 30% had multiple attachments with secondary attachment figures.
They show separation anxiety and his relationships.

Question 23

What did John Bowlby believed about attachments?

Answer 23

Attachments were hierarchical in nature with children having one primary attachment figure. And then a secondary attachment to others (minor importance compare to main attachment bond)

Question 24

What did Rutter believe about attachments?

Answer 24

He proposed a model of multiple attachments that saw all of them as equal importance.
These attachments combined together to help form a Childs internal working model.
(They are often form to different people for different reasons)

Question 25

What are the strengths of Emerson and S study?

Answer 25

+Good external validity, Own homes, observations done by parents. Mundane realism (as it was conducted under every day conditions)
+longitudinal design, some families were followed up and observed over a longer time. They could have done a cross-sectional design with the observed different children each age.
Longitudinal design has less cofounding variables such as individual differences
+no ethical issues, consent, no harm confidentiality, no deception

Question 26

What were the weaknesses of Emerson and S study?

Answer 26

• Methodological issues, observations and self-report measures could be bias e.g. mothers would want to show they have a good relationship with the children (social desirability bias) ::lacks reliability.
• Lacks population validity, only applies to work in class and parental care has changed a lot since the 1960s also individualistic culture.
• lacks validity, asocial stage flawed methods misrepresented babies

Question 27

What did Emerson and S find out about fathers?

Answer 27

Less likely to be primary attachment figure (spend less time with children)
But this was found out in the 1960s where men were the main breadwinner

Question 28

What did Bowlby Believe about the father?

Answer 28

-May sometimes be the primary attachment figure

But Are seen more as a playmate as they are more physical and predictable and exciting than mothers

Question 29

What are mothers traditionally perceived as?

Answer 29

More nurturing and showing more sensitive responsiveness

Question 30

What are the four factors that affect the relationship between the father and the children?

Answer 30

-Degree of sensitivity
-type of attachment with own parents
– marital intimacy
-supporting co-parenting

Question 31

What is degree of sensitivity in terms of the role of the father?

Answer 31

More secure attachments are formed when the father shows more sensitivity to the children

Question 32

What is meant by’ type of attachment with own parents’ in terms of role of the father?

Answer 32

Single-parent fathers tend to form similar attachment with their children that they had with their own parents

Question 33

What is meant by marital intimacy in terms of role of the father?

Answer 33

Relationship with his partner affects the type of attachment he will have with his children

Question 34

What is meant by supports co-parenting in the role of the father?

Answer 34

The support of the father gives his partner in helping care for the children affects the type of attachment he will have with his kids

Question 35

What evidence is there of the four factors that affect the relationship between the father and the child?

Answer 35

• Gaiko-fathers are more playmates than caregivers
• lamb-children interact with fathers when in positive emotional state whereas go to mothers for comfort when distressed
• Lucassen-High level of sensitivity stronger infant father attachment security
• Belsky-high marital intimacy = secure father infant attachment and vice versa (in terms of low levels)
• Brown-supportive co-parenting is related to secure attachment

Question 36

What are the strengths of the role of the father?

Answer 36

+ those who have good attachments have a good pair relationships and less problems and I’m not able to control their emotions (positive influence of fathers)

+ fathers help give more time to mothers which helps reduce stress and allows them to interact positively with the children

+ children without fathers do less well at school (show high levels of risk-taking and aggression)
Therefore fathers help prevent negative developmental outcomes

Question 37

What are the weaknesses of the role of the father?

Answer 37

-Inconsistent findings-some researchers want to see role of father as secondary and some want to see as primary attachment figures which confuses what the role of the father is.

-children who have no fathers (single-parent families)
McCallum found Who grew up with a mother or same-sex parents don’t develop differently to those in a heterosexual family so role of father is an important
-why don’t father is generally book on primary attachments – traditional gender roles making men feel like they don’t have to act like that or due to oestrogen in women that shows they are biologically predisposed to be primary attachment figure

Question 38

What is imprinting?

When must this happen?

Answer 38

Newborn baby attaches to 1st living thing they see at birth

Must happen during critical period or it will probably never be able to form an attachment (4-25 hours)

Question 39

What was the purpose of Lorenz study?

Answer 39

Investigate mechanisms of imprinting were youngsters following form attachments to 1st moving object they meet

Question 40

How did Lorenz carry out his procedure?

Answer 40

Large clutch of greylag goose eggs
Two batches (one hatched by mother one hatched in incubator)
He was the first moving object with the incubator ones
He marked all of them and removed an upturned box

Question 41

What did Lorenz find out?

Answer 41

Naturally hatched goslings followed mum
Incubator hatched goslings followed him
He found that the bonds proved to be irreversible

Question 42

What was found out about sexual imprinting?

Answer 42

Birds that imprinted on a human would lead to display courtship behaviour on species they imprinted on e.g. Martina the goose who tried to mate with him

Question 43

What was the aim of the Harlow study?

Answer 43

To prove that the mother bond wasn’t based on the feeding bond.

Question 44

What was the Harlow’s procedure?

Answer 44

Two types of surrogates mother a harsh wire and a soft comfortable mum and 16 babies were used under four conditions
He recorded the time spent with each mother and when frightened with a loud noise to see which one they preferred

Question 45

What were the four conditions?

Answer 45

• Wire mum no milk, towelling mum no milk
• wire mum no milk, towelling mum milk
• wire mum milk
• Towelling mum milk

Question 46

What did the Harlow find out from his study?

Answer 46

-When given the choice towelling mother (some stretched over to feed from wire but clung onto towel)
-with only wire mum, diarrhoea and distress
-loud noise: cling to towelling mother if available
Long lasting effects: all motherless monkeys were abnormal (socially & sexually), aggressive, attacked and killed their young

Question 47

What are the strengths of Lorenz study?

Answer 47

+ other supporting studies that show in printing in birds
Guiton Leghorn chicks that are exposed to yellow rubber gloves imprinted on the gloves (males try and mate with it)

+ case study peacock read in reptile house and it tried to direct courtship behaviour with giant tortoises (sexual imprinting)

Question 48

What are the weaknesses of Lorenz study?

Answer 48

• Only evidence of birds therefore generalisation is a problem (mammalian mothers show more attachment than birds) and mammals can form attachments at any time rather than specific critical period
• issues with characteristics As original concept says it is irreversible Leghorn chickens can reverse their imprinting with yellow gloves by spending time with own species

Question 49

What are the strengths of Harlow’s research?

Answer 49

+Theoretical value (attachment doesn’t occur to being fed it is due to comfort) important for the quality of relationships and internal working model

+Practical value (understand risk of child neglect and abuse and how important it is to not separate baby from mum)
Benefits outweigh the costs to animals in study

Question 50

What were the weaknesses with Harlow’s study?

Answer 50

-Problems of generalisation to Humans
Human behaviour has conscious thoughts. But can still be pointer to understanding human behaviour as animals to dont from bond with person who feeds them (BUT primates closest to humans)

-Ethical issues caused emotional harm monkeys couldn’t form relationships and a lot of them died

Question 51

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 51

Learning through association

Question 52

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 52

Learning through reinforcement

Question 53

What is a primary reinforcer for children?

What is a secondary reinforcer for children?

Answer 53

Food

mum (normally because she brings food)

Question 54

What is social learning theory?

Answer 54

Learning through observation

By imitating model attachment behaviour

Question 55

In attachment what is 
UCS:
UCR:
NS:
CS:
CR:

Answer 55

• food
• pleasure
• mum
• caregiver
• pleasure

Question 56

What is attachment?

Answer 56

An emotional tie/ bond between 2 people