attatchment-booklet 1

Question 1

what is attachment

Answer 1

Attachment is defined as an enduring, two-way emotional relationship between two people, in which each seeks closeness and feels more secure when in the presence of one another

Question 2

what does attachment develop as a response to

Answer 2

it develops as a response to interactions between the child and the caregiver

Question 3

what is infancy

Answer 3

Infancy is the period of a child’s life before speech begins

Question 4

what is one of the key interactions between the caregiver and infant

Answer 4

One of the key interactions between a caregiver and the infant is their non-verbal communication
eg–eye contact

Question 5

what determines how strong the relationship/attachment is between caregiver and infant

Answer 5

The more sensitive each is to the other’s signal, the deeper the relationship

Question 6

what are the two types of caregiver-infant interactions

Answer 6

Interactional synchrony
Reciprocity

Question 7

what is reciprocity

Answer 7

Interactions between carers and infants result in mutual behaviour, with both being able to produce responses from each other.

Question 8

what did Feldman state about reciprocity

Answer 8

from around 3 months reciprocity increases in frequency. It is stated that showing sensitive responsiveness where the caregiver pays attention sensitively towards the infants behaviour lays strong foundations for attachment

Question 9

what is involved in reciprocity

Answer 9

turn taking

Question 10

what is interactional synchrony

Answer 10

when infants mirror the actions/emotions of another person they will carry out the same acts simultaneously

Question 11

how does the child move in relation to the caregiver

Answer 11

the two are said to be synchronised often the interaction is perfectly timed as though they are one

Question 12

what was the method for meltzoff and Moore study
(supporting evidence for interactional synchrony)

Answer 12

-there was a controlled observation where an adult model displayed one of 3 facial expressions or moved there fingers in sequence
-a dummy was placed in the mouth to prevent any response the the dummy was removed and facial expression was recorded in real time, slow motion and frame by frame
-each observer scored behavioural categories twice
-clear association between infants and adult models behaviour
-he repeated the experiment with 3 day old infant and found they also imitated the behaviour ruling out the possibility imitation behaviours are learnt

Question 13

what does Melzoff and Moores study suggest

Answer 13

that interactional synchrony is innate and probably linked to survival

Question 14

RAVE melzoff and moores study

Answer 14

+ high internal validity-high controlled meaning the IV was the only thing affecting the DV
+inter rater reliability- more than one observer can check the behaviour by slowing down footage-this means the study is reliable.
-testing young children-Fieldman states infants move there arms and wave there arms consistently which means the behaviours could’ve occurred by chance.

Question 15

what is some supporting evidence for reciprocity

Answer 15

condon and sander found new borns co-ordinate there movements and gestures in time with human speech
shows its an innate behaviour that is important for the development of attatchments

Question 16

supporting evidence for reciprocity

Answer 16

Tronik- asked mothers who have been enjoying a dialogue with their child to maintain a static unsmiling expression. babies would attempt to tempt there mother by smiling and would become puzzled and distressed when this did not provoke the usual response.

Question 17

what does Troniks research suggest and what are any ethical issues involved in this

Answer 17

-babies expect and anticipate concordant responses
-ethical issues-purposely causing the baby distress however it is justified as it is no more than in everyday life

Question 18

criticisms of supporting evidence

Answer 18

-you cannot establish cause and effect as it would be ethically immoral to limit the quantity of caregiver-infant interactions

Question 19

criticism of supporting evidence

Answer 19

-fieldman said infants move there mouth and wave there arms consistently so these behaviours may have occurred by chance

Question 20

what are some practical applications

Answer 20

crotwell found 10m parent-child interaction therapy improved interactional synchrony
-however, this research is socially sensitive and leads mothers to believe working is harmful so will mean less mothers will work so less money is taxes which lowers the economy

Question 21

Desribe schaffer and emersons study for the stages of attachment

Answer 21

-they have 60 babies from 5-23 weeks
-it was an overt observation
-the babies where visited once a month for the first 12 months then again at 18m
-the mothers kept a diary about how the baby reacted to strangers and being left alone-social desirability from the mothers
attachment was measured using
-stranger anxiety-the researcher kept approaching the infant until they whimpered
-separation anxiety-how the infant was left alone/left with a stranger

Question 22

what where the finding of schaffer and emersons stages of attachment

Answer 22

-At 18m 13% where attached only to one person
-At 18m 31% had 5 or more attachments
- 65% the first specific attatchment was the mother

Question 23

pre-attachment/ A social stage age and description

Answer 23

birth-2m
-shows a similar response to object and people
-shows a preference for eyes

Question 24

indiscriminate attachment stage age and description

Answer 24

2-7/8m
-shows a preference for human company over non-human company.
-indiscriminately comforted by anyone
-does not show stranager anxiety

Question 25

discriminate attachment stage/ specific age and description

Answer 25

-7/8m and onwords
-infant shows preference for one caregiver
-displays stranger and separation anxiety
-looks to a particular person for security/protection
-are comforted by primary caregiver

Question 26

multiple attachment stage age and description

Answer 26

-1 year onwards
-attachments are displayed towards several people
-they form in the first month after primary attachment

Question 27

evaluate schaffer and emersons study
(positives)

Answer 27

-study was longitudinal they used the same 60 children which allows us to eliminate participant variables which allows more internally valid data to be produced
-the study has high ecological validity as it was conducted in there own homes so it would apply to other children from a similar demographic in there own homes

Question 28

evaluate schaffer and emersons study
(negative)

Answer 28

mothers may have shown social desirability bias to appear as better mothers with more secure attachments so the data lacks internal validity
-they used a narrow measure of attachment eg- separation and stranger anxiety so the research lack validity. They may have failed to notice attachments when they had actually formed eg-smiling

Question 29

what was Bowlby view on multiple attachment

Answer 29

-we form one special emotional attachment (monotropy)
-subsidary to this there are secondary attatchments which are important as a emotional safety net

Question 30

what was Rutters view on multiple attatchment

Answer 30

all attatchment figures are equal
-all the attatchments are intergrate to form a child internal working model (schema of relationships)

Question 31

what is an advantage of multiple attachment

Answer 31

if we lose one attachment we have several others we can turn to

Question 32

what findings from Schaffer and Emersons study support fathers not being important attachment figures

Answer 32

3% attatched to father first

Question 33

when did infants form an attachment with there father

Answer 33

75% formed an attachment at 18m which shows infants attach later in life

Question 34

how is the role of the father different from the role of the mother

Answer 34

fathers provide a qualitatively different role from the mother. The fathers role is stimulating play whereas the mothers is emotional support.
but this role of playmate is just as crucial to the child’s wellbeing

Question 35

what evidence supports the conclusion that the role of father is different from mother

Answer 35

Grossman found the quality of fathers play was related to the quality of attachment in adolescence.
It was concluded that mother and father are equally as important however mothers role is more nurturing whereas the fathers is more stimulating through play

Question 36

who found evidence to suggest gender is not crucial in the child’s development

Answer 36

Field-filmed 4 month old babies interacion with primary caregiver fathers and found there behaviour was typical of mothers in whicb they spent more time smiling, holding hand with the baby

Question 37

what did evidence find about single parent households

Answer 37

MacCalllum and Golombok found children growing in single parent or same sex parent households do not develop any differently to children with two-parent heterosexual family

Question 38

what is a limitation about the research conduced into the role of the father

Answer 38

socially sensitive-Grossman said the quality of fathers play with the child influences the quality of attachment in adolescence . suggest children without father figures will be unable to form high quality attatchments/realtionships with others

Question 39

what is evidence to suggest the role of the father is biologically predetermined

Answer 39

Hardy found fathers were less able to detect low levels of infant stress compared to mothers.
This may be due to the lack of oestrogen in men so they are unable to create higher levels of nurtuirng

Question 40

what are some economic implications of the role of the father

Answer 40

-fathers will remain at home-wont go out and get a job + pay taxes
-however it creates opportunity for mothers to work
-increases paternity leave-government spend more on paternity leave affects the economy
-children without fathers seem to to do less well at school-wont get a high paying job

Question 41

what may the role of the father be a result of

Answer 41

this may be the result of traditonal gender roles and women are expected be more nurtering and caring than men. There may be biases due to what society expects from them