Paper 1: 3. Attachments Flashcards
KEY STUDY Outline the study associated with stages of attachment.
Schaffer and Emerson’s Stages of Attachment Study
AIM: Schaffer and Emerson aimed to investigate the formation of early attachments, specifically the AGE they develop the attachments and WHO they’re formed with.
METHOD:
- 31 MALE babies and 29 FEMALE babies from GLASGOW were used in this study. The babies came from SKILLED WORKING CLASS FAMILIES.
- The families were visited at home EVERY MONTH for the FIRST YEAR and again when the babies were 18 months.
- The mothers were questioned about their children’s reaction to situations ie the primary caregiver leaving the room (SEPARATION ANXIETY) to measure the infant’s attachment.
FINDINGS:
- 50% of infants BETWEEN 25-32 weeks of age showed signs of SEPARATION ANXIETY towards a particular adult (usually the mother). This is called a SPECIFIC ATTACHMENT.
- Specific attachments were formed with the carer that was the MOST RESPONSIVE to infant signals and facial expressions. This WAS NOT necessarily the person who spent the most time with the infant.
- 80% of infants formed a specific attachment by 40 weeks and almost 30% displayed MULTIPLE ATTACHMENTS.
1✅ 2❌- Evaluate Schaffer and Emerson’s Attachment Study
✅Good external validity - Observations were carried out in the families’s homes. They were reported by the mothers, therefore the infants are likely to have behaved naturally. (❌However, it’s possible the mothers gave a bias account.) ❌Longitudinal design - There’s an issue where participants may drop out of the investigation. This affects the overall sample size and will negatively affect results. ❌Limited sample characteristics - The sample itself was weak because it only included people from working class families, which isn’t representative. Results can’t be generalised to other social contexts.
Outline the study which measures the quality of attachment. You DO NOT need to list all episodes.
Ainsworth’s Strange Situation - 100 middle class American infants between 12-18 months were observed through video cameras in a laboratory playroom with their mothers.
METHOD: The Strange Situation has 7 episodes lasting 3 minutes.
Walk through Ainsworth’s Strange Situation through episodes 1-7.
- The child is encouraged to explore.
↪️Tests EXPLORATION and SECURE BASE. - A stranger comes in and tries to interact with the child.
↪️Tests STRANGER ANXIETY. - The caregiver leaves the child and stranger alone together.
↪️Tests SEPARATION and STRANGER ANXIETY. - The caregiver returns and the stranger leaves.
↪️Tests REUNION BEHAVIOUR and EXPLORATION. - The caregiver leaves the child alone.
↪️Tests SEPARATION ANXIETY. - The stranger returns.
↪️Tests STRANGER ANXIETY. - The caregiver returns and is reunited with the child.
↪️Tests REUNION BEHAVIOUR.
List the 4 stages of attachment
Stage 1: Asocial Stage
Stage 2: Indiscriminate Attachment
Stage 3: Specific Attachment
Stage 4: Multiple Attachments
Describe Stage 1 of the 4 Stages of Attachment.
ASOCIAL STAGE
- Occurs in the first few weeks.
- Babies respond to people and objects in similar views. They show no preference for particular individuals. Near the end of this stage they start to show SOME preference for familiar adults as they’re more able to nurture them.
Describe Stage 2 of the 4 Stages of Attachment.
INDISCRIMINATE ATTACHMENT
- Occurs between 2-7 months.
- Babies begin to show a preference for people obey objects. They recognise and prefer familiar adults. They show no fear of strangers and accept comfort from anyone.
Describe Stage 3 of the 4 Stages of Attachment.
SPECIFIC ATTACHMENT
- Occurs at 7 months.
- Babies display anxiety to strangers and show separation anxiety when away from their caregiver. A specific attachment had been formed to the primary attachment figure.
Describe Stage 4 of the 4 Stages of Attachment.
MULTIPLE ATTACHMENT
- Occurs indefinitely.
- Babies eventually form multiple attachments with other adults who they regularly spend time with - their secondary attachments.
What did Schaffer and Emerson find in parent-infant attachments? Include important statistics.
- They found the majority of babies became attached to their mother first at around 7 months, THEN formed a secondary attachment to other family members, including the father.
- In 75% of the infants studied, an attachment to the father had been made by 18 months. This was shown by the child protesting when the father walked away.
What did Field find about fathers as primary carers?
He filmed 4 month old babies in face to face interactions with:
- Primary caregiver mothers
- Primary caregiver fathers
- Secondary caregiver fathers
Primary caregiver fathers (2) spent more time smiling, imitating and holding than secondary caregiver fathers (3). This type of behaviour is important in building attachment with the infant. This suggests the father can be more nurturing attachment figure; what matters is the level of responsiveness, not the parent’s gender.
What does Grossman say about the role of the father?
- He carried out a longitudinal study at the relationship between parents behaviour and quality of children’s attachment into their teens.
- The quality of infant attachment to mothers were related to the children’s attachment in adolescence, but this wasn’t the case with fathers. However, the quality of father’s play was related to the quality of attachement later in life.
Evaluate attachement figures (4❌)
❌ Inconsistent research on fathers - Some psychologists focus the roles of fathers as secondary attachment figures. This is different from the distinct role of mothers, whereas others focus the role of the father as a primary attachment figure.
❌Socially sensitive research on working mothers - Mothers who return to work after childbirth restrict the opportunités for receiving interactional synchrony. Researchers showed
mothers being important in developing infant-caregiver attachment. This suggests that mothers shouldn’t return to work so soon, causing mothers to feel bad for doing so.
❌Gender roles & biological influence - Gender roles make women feel as if they must be more caring, so this may make fathers feel as if they shouldn’t act as caring. Oestrogen creates higher levels of nurturing in women, so it’s argued that women are biologically made to bring the primary attachment figure.
Fully outline LORENZ’S animal study.
METHOD: Lorenz removed half a dozen goose eggs from a mother goose and hatched them himself. The other half (the control group) stayed with the mother and hatched in their natural environment.
When Lorenz’s goslings hatched, the followed him. He tried to mix his goslings with the control group that hatched naturally, but they followed their mother aka the original attachment figure.
KEY TERMS
IMPRINTING: Where bird species that are mobile from birth attach to the first moving object they see.
CRITICAL PERIOD: Lorenz identified a critical period in which imprinting must take place. This can be a few hours after hatching. If imprinting d
