PSYCHOLOGY paper 3 Flashcards
what is attachment?
attachment is a deep and strong bond between two people, usually a primary caregiver and a child. The relationship is reciprocal, which means that it is a two way relationship.
what is reciprocity?
reciprocity is when an infant responds to the actions of another person in a form or turn taking.
From around 3 months old, reciprocity increases in frequency as the infant and caregiver pay increasingly attention to each others verbal and facial communications.
It is suggested that showing this sensitive responsiveness, whereby the caregiver pays attention sensitively towards the infants behaviour will lay the strong foundation of attachment to develop later between the caregiver and the infant.
what is interactinal synchrony?
it takes place when infants mirror (imitate) the actions or emotions of another person.
Facial expressions, when they imitate and act as their caregiver simultaneously then two are said to be synchronized.
stages of attachment?
Schaffer and Emerson conducted a longitudinal study and found 4 stages of attachments.
1. asocial stage (preattachment)
2. indiscriminate stage (diffuse)
3. discriminate stage (specific)
4. multiple attachment
explain asocial stage?
- from birth to 6 weeks
- infant shows similar response to objects and people.
Towards the end they start displaying preferences for certain individuals.
explain indiscriminate stage?
- from 6 weeks to 7 months
- an infant now shows a preference for human company over non human company
- infant can distignish between different people and can be handled by a stranger without distress
explain discriminate stage?
- from 7 months onwards
- an infant shows a preference for one caregiver, displaying seperation and stranger anxiety
- the infant looks to a particular person for security and protection.
multiple attachement stage?
- from 9 months onwards
- attachment behaviours are now displayed towards several different people. (sibling and grandparents)
also known as secondary attachment, separation and stranger anxiety decreases,.
AO3, Schaffer and Emerson 1964 - supporting research
O’Connor (2013) AIM
investigate to what extend social learning theory based intervention promoted change in quality of child parent relationship.
O’Connor (2013) PROCEDURE
- randomized clinical trial on 174, 4-6 year old children from 4 primary schools in London
- it was a longitundial study (3 years)
- 88 interventional condition and 86 in non interventional condition
- informed consent was received from the parents and the local research ethics comittee also gave an approval for the study
- parents were thought new parental techniques and asked to practise skills at home.
- the post treatment observations were done through home visits by a team of 2 trained researchers who did not know which condition the family was in (all videotaped)
- 3 tasks to do:
1. 10 min free play with no instructions given
2. 10 min instructed challenge
3. 5 min of tidying up with minimal instructions - observers rated each of the 3 tasks, and the ratings showed whether there was a positive (sensitive responding) or negative parenting style.
- mutuality was measured as the degree to which each member seems to wilingly accept and seek the other’s involvement in a joint activity.
O’Connor results
- parents in the intervention condition showed higher number of positive behavioural changes and increased sensitive responding compared to the non intervention group.
O’Connor conclusion
- standard social learning theory based interventions can change aspects of parents child relationship quality.
O’Connor AO3 strengths
- as study has standardized procedure and controlled procedure with time limits of 10 and 5 min, video recorded and also used instructions, mean that the study is reliable and replicable
- for each intervention group, a profesoinal is provided to guide the parents and explain any misunderstandings and to make sure task was done corectlly, therefore results are not affected by any external variables ensuring internal validity.
- informed consent was given and the study helps imporve the quality of parent child attachment relationships. Beneficial and ethical.
O’Connor AO3 weaknesses
- the presence of 2 observes and a camera might have affected the performance of participants which leads to demand caracteristics which can influence results, the3refore it reduces the validity of the study.
- study has a sample of 174 4-6 year old kids from only 4 primary schools in London, therefore it cannot be applied to other nationalities or ages above 6. It lacks population validity.
Bowlby monotropic theory
takes an evolutionary perspective. He argued that children are born with an innate tendency to form attachments with their parents in order to increase chances to survivol.
Adaptive AO1
attachments are adaptive which means they give humans an advantage, making them more likely to survive.
if an infant has an attachment, they are kept safe, given food and kept warm by their caregiver
Social releaasers AO1
- infants posses inborn social releasers, which unlock an innate tendency for primary caregiver to care for them.
- physical, ‘‘baby face’’ that make baby’s appear cute
- behavioural, crying and smilling to get attention
Critical period AO1
- infants must form an attachment with their caregiver during the critical period which is between 3 and 6 months of age. (3 years old)
- If attachment is not formed, infants would be damaged in following areas - intelectually, socially, physically, emotionally
Monotropy AO1
- Bowbly believed that infants form a very special attachment with their primary caregiver. This special and intense attachment is called monotropy.
- If the mother is not available, the child can bond with another person known as mum’s substitute
Internal working model AO1
- an internal template for future relationships expectations.
If a child has a strong and healthy attachment with their primary caregiver then they will develop strong and healthy relationships in the future (same with negative ones)
Theory of maternal deprivation AO1
- it occurs when an attachment bond is formed between an infant and caregiver but is broken later in life. (up to 3 years )
- if maternal deprivation occurs it would have lasting negative effects on a child in terms of their emotional development.
Bowlby 44 thieves study AIM
- to investigate the long term effects of maternal deprivation on people to see whether delinquents have suffered deprivation
Bowlby PROCEDURE
- opportunity sample of 88 children was selected from the clinic where Bowlby worked.
- 44 juvenile thieve and 44 controls, 65 boys and 23 girls (had emotional problems but no crimes commited)
- each child had their IQ tested by a psychologist and two groups were matched for age and IQ
- children and parents were interviewed to record details of the child early life by Bowlby, psychologist and a social worker, they all made different reports.