Basics of Attachment

Question 1

What is attachment??

Answer 1

A two-way emotional bond in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security

Question 2

What is reciprocity?

Answer 2

The response to body language and gestures between two individuals

Question 3

What is interactional synchrony?

Answer 3

A special kind of reciprocity in which both individuals mimic the behaviours of the other

Question 4

What proportion of cues are picked up on by mothers and who discovered this?

Answer 4

2/3 of cues are responded to, discovered by Feldman and Eidelman (2007)

Question 5

Who was it that described reciprocity as being like a ‘dance’?

Answer 5

Brazleton et al (1975)

Question 6

What was Isabella et al’s study and what did they find? (1989)

Answer 6

30 mother-infant pairs were observed and interactional synchrony was measured, it was found that mothers with better synchrony with their child had better attachments

Question 7

What did Grossman (2002) find about the role of fathers in later attachments? (longitudinal study)

Answer 7

It was found that the quality of father-child play was more important than the quality of their attachment (suggests that fathers have a different role based more around entertainment and stimulation)

Question 8

What was Field’s 1978 study into the role of the father?

Answer 8

Primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers were compared interacting with their 4-year-old children.
It was observed that Primary caregiver mothers and fathers seemed to have very similar interactions with their children compared to secondary caregiver fathers

Question 9

How can we evaluate the ideas of reciprocity and interactional synchrony?

Answer 9

(-)All studies done into these behaviours are conducted on very young children, making it very difficult to make observations (observations are somewhat subjective)
(+) Babies are unlikely to respond differently in lab condition than they would in a natural environment (higher internal validity)
(-)Feldman (2012) points out that the purposes of reciprocity and synchrony are not clear

Question 10

How can we evaluate research into the role of the father?

Answer 10

(-)There is no one ‘role of the father’ as fathers act very differently as primary or secondary caregivers
(-)There is no apparent disadvantage to not having a father figure, despite the fact that they have been seen to have a distinct role (MacCallum and Golombok same sex family research 2004)
(-)The idea that father figures are arguably less important puts a lot of unwanted pressure on mothers

Question 11

How did Schaffer and Emerson observe the stages of attachments?

Answer 11

60 babies from Glasgow were observed every month for the first year of their life and then again at 18 months, stranger and separation anxiety were assessed

Question 12

Describe the first stage of attachment

Answer 12

The asocial stage- lasts the first few weeks of life, similar behaviour towards humans and non-human objects, baby shows some preference to familiar adults

Question 13

Describe the second stage of attachment

Answer 13

The indiscriminate stage- runs from around 2-7 months old, more observable social behaviour is observed, some preference towards humans and familiar adults, no anxiety is usually observed in this stage

Question 14

Describe the third stage of attachment

Answer 14

Specific attachment-from around 7 months, baby begins to show separation and stranger anxiety, separation anxiety is associated with the most reciprocal parent (biological mother in 70% of cases)

Question 15

Describe the forth stage of attachment

Answer 15

Multiple attachments- after a short while in the specific attachment stage, attachments can be extended to other adults. 29% of children had secondary attachments by around 8 moths old (Schaffer and Emerson)

Question 16

How can Schaffer and Emerson’s studies be evaluated?

Answer 16

(+) Studies were done in natural environments (good ecological validity)
(+) The longitudinal design of the study resulted in decreased participant variables, meaning the study had very good internal validity
(-)The fact that all of the children were from working class families in Glasgow means that it is hard to generalise the findings (lowers external validity)
(-) The study is also over 50 years old, it is possible that these findings are no longer applicable

Question 17

How can Schaffer and Emerson’s findings be evaluated?

Answer 17

(-) Findings on the asocial stage may be based on slightly subjective results, within the first few weeks of life it is very difficult to observe specific behaviours
(-) It is possible that some mothers were slightly biased when asked to assess their own child’s process (could be linked to social desirability bias)
(-) In some cultures (collectivist cultures) it is normal for families to work together on everything and so it is much more common for children to form joint attachments much earlier
(-) It can be difficult to distinguish between a secondary attachment and a ‘playmate’ when considering separation anxiety
(-) Some psychologists deem separation and stranger anxiety to be too crude of measures of attachment