Paper 1 Evaluation- Attachment

Question 1

Caregiver infant interactions

Answer 1

Meltzoff and Moore’s study and Isabella et al.’s study
Observations are well controlled
Feldman- does not tell us the purpose
Pseudo imitation

Question 2

Schaffer’s Stages of attachment

Answer 2

Problem with asocial stage- immobile & poor coordination
True attachments vs playmates
Schaffer and Emerson’s study support stages 3 and 4
Study is longitudinal, better than cross-sectional

Question 3

Role of the father

Answer 3

Confusing- researchers have different research questions
Freeman et al. (2010) boys preference to fathers
Ethical issues- no difference between kids with or without fathers
Grossman- role of the father- how other studies undermine this

Question 4

Lorenz’s study

Answer 4

Chickens and yellow gloves
Undermining for chickens and yellow gloves
Difference between mammalian attachment vs birds

Question 5

Harlow’s study

Answer 5

Confounding variable- mothers heads
Ethical issues

Question 6

The learning attachment theory

Answer 6

Undermining evidence Animal studies
Undermining evidence-Schaffer and Emerson- 39% of infants attached to person who didn’t feed them
Too complex to be explained by conditioning
Attention and responsiveness may be the reinforcer

Question 7

Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment

Answer 7

Supporting research- when mothers ignored babies signals they curled up & lied motionless
Forms around 6 months- when they start crawling
Controversial idea- blame on mothers
Undermining- Schaffer and Emerson- can form multiple attachments at the same time

Question 8

Ainsworth’s Strange situation

Answer 8

Support- secure attached go on to do better
Strength- good inter-rater relatability- 94% agreement on attachment types
Undermining- 4th attachment type- insecure disorganised
Real world application- teach caregivers to better understand infants- caregivers classed as disordered decreased (60% to 15%) and increased secure attached infants (32% to 49%)

Question 9

Cultural variations

Answer 9

Large sample
Studied countries not cultures
Imposed etic- Strange Situation was designed by American researcher on a British theory
Cultural similarities explained by mass media- due to increasing global culture.

Question 10

Maternal deprivation

Answer 10

Bowlby’s 44 thieves study
Weakness of supporting evidence- researcher bias- Bowlby conducted assessments for affectionless psychopathy and family interviews- also only a correlation was found
Lewis replicated study- found that criminality or difficulty forming close relationships did not predict criminality
Real world application- led to parents being able to stay with their children overnight in hospitals

Question 11

Romanian orphan studies: the effects of institutionalisation

Answer 11

Children not randomly allocated to conditions- more sociable may have been adopted first
Conditions were so bad results cannot be applied
Real world application- led to key workers in orphanages
La Mare and Audet- supports it’s not irreversible

Question 12

The influence of early attachment on later relationships

Answer 12

Undermining research- Zimmerman (2000)- little relationship between attachment types of parents and children
Weakness- Overly determinist- suggests insecurely attached infants are doomed to experience bad relationships
Weakness- Internal working model is unconscious- people cannot report what they are unaware of in self-report techniques
Weakness- association has been found between attachment type and later relationships, could be a 3rd variable such as temperament