AO3

Question 1

One strength of caregiver-infant interactions (controlled conditions)

Answer 1

Conducted under controlled conditions with detailed observations​
-Meltzoff and Moore filmed interactions between infants and caregivers to examine interactional synchrony. The use of video recordings allowed researchers to analyse the infants’ responses frame by frame, reducing the risk of observer bias​
-The high level of control ensures that findings are reliable and replicable, suggesting the conclusions drawn about early social interactions are trustworthy​
-Therefore, caregiver-infant interaction studies provide accurate evidence about the role of early interactions in attachment formation

Question 2

One strength of caregiver-infant interactions (real-world app)

Answer 2

Real-world applications​
-Research on interactional synchrony and reciprocity has brought about parenting skills training – PCIT, for example – whereby the caregiver and child have a 10-minute session that is shown to improve the quality of their bond​
-By applying the knowledge, caregivers can enhance the quality of attachment, leading to better social and emotional development in children​
-Therefore, research on caregiver-infant interactions has proven to have practical value, making it beneficial for real-life parenting and childcare

Question 3

One limitation of caregiver-infant interactions (infant behaviour over complicated)

Answer 3

Infant’s behaviours may not be intentional or meaningful​
-For example, an infant sticking out their tongue or making facial expressions may not necessarily be a response to the caregiver, but could instead be random movements or reflexes ​
-As researchers must observe this behaviour, it introduces the problem of subjectivity ​
-Therefore, the validity of research on caregiver-infant interactions is reduced, as we cannot be certain that the behaviours observed are intentional social responses

Question 4

One strength of stages of attachment (external validity)

Answer 4

High external validity​
-Most of the observations were made by parents during everyday activities​
-Babies were in their natural environment so they would not be anxious or behave differently based off their surroundings ​
-This means their behaviour would be natural and researchers can therefore be sure that the findings are accurate

Question 5

One strength of stages of attachment (real-world app)

Answer 5

Good real-world application​
-Shows that babies in the asocial and indiscriminate stages can be cared for by any competent adult, but this is more difficult in the specific attachment stage​
-This helps inform parents/carers about when is the best time for babies to start day care, as starting at around 7 months (specific stage) cam be very distressing for a young child​
-This can be used to help parents plan when to introduce their children to daycare

Question 6

One limitation of stages of attachment (poor generalisability)

Answer 6

Poor generalisability​
-The children studied were a unique sample, in terms of cultural and historical context​
-They were all from Glasgow, from working class families and born in the 1960​
-Telling us little about stages of attachment in other eras or from other cultures. For example, it has been found that in collectivist cultures, multiple attachments from an early age is the normal.

Question 7

One limitation of stages of attachment (mother bias)

Answer 7

Issues with the mothers being the main observers ​
-Mothers may find it difficult to be objective ad clinical in their observations​
-They may have been biased in what they saw, have misremembered, or not noticed what their baby was doing​
-This means that even if the babies behaved naturally, their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded

Question 8

One strength of the role of the father (practical applications)

Answer 8

Understanding the role of the father has practical applications for parenting​
-Research has influenced changed in parental leave policies, recognising that fathers play a crucial role in child development. Many countries now allow shared parental leave, enabling fathers to take a more active role in caregiving ​
-This helps promote greater involvement from fathers, which may benefit children’s emotional and social development​
-Therefore, research into the role of the father has real-world benefits, influencing policies that encourage active father involvement in early childhood

Question 9

One limitation of the role of the father (social/cultural bias)

Answer 9

Research into the father’s role may be influenced by social and cultural biases​
-Traditionally, Western societies have viewed mothers as the primary caregivers, which may have influenced early attachment research to focus more on the maternal attachment.​
-This means that the research may reflect historical and cultural norms rather than biological differences in parenting roles​
-Therefore, findings on the role of the father may not be applicable universally, as cultural differences and societal norms can affect the way fathers interact with their children

Question 10

One limitation of the role of the father (conflicting evidence)

Answer 10

Conflicting evidence and inconsistent findings​
-Some studies – Grossman – claims that fathers are important secondary attachments who only help the child’s development through play and stimulation, offering the suggestion that the role of the father is different to the mother​
-However, MacCallum and Golombok found that children growing up in same-sex or single-parent households do not develop any differently to other children​
-This shows how the theory that the father play a different, but equally important, role is incorrect, as either parent is capable of being emotional, nurturing and playful.

Question 11

One strength of animal studies (practical applications)

Answer 11

Practical applications which improve the welfare of both humans and animals​
-Harlow’s research on maternal deprivation has helped inform workers in hospitals, orphanages and schools the importance of emotional care in early development. Including the introduction of ‘key’ worker systems in schools and nurseries whereby one worker is allocated to children, whom they are responsible for taking emotional care for and bonding with them. ​
-These real-world benefits show that animal studies has extended from theoretical knowledge, to leading to improvements in caregiving​
-Therefore, showing how the findings from animal studies have led to a positive impact on human welfare, particularly in aiding early development

Question 12

One limitation of animal studies (ethical issues)

Answer 12

Ethical issues and concerns when using animals​
-Harlow’s experiments, for example, caused severe distress to the monkeys and long-term psychological damage – of which influenced their ability to socialise, be parents and form relationships​
-While the findings of Harlow’s research were beneficial, the suffering caused to the monkeys raises conflict over whether the study was worth violating ethical beliefs​
-Therefore, although animal studies can be beneficial to understanding attachments today, it is questioned as to whether the ends justify the means

Question 13

One limitation of animal studies (generalisability)

Answer 13

Issues generalising animal studies to humans​
-For example, Lorenz’s study with geese showed that imprinting occurs over a critical period. But human attachment is far more complex than this as humans are far more cognitively developed and human attachment is affected by many more social and cultural factors​
-Whilst animal studies provide useful insights, they cannot be used to fully explain human attachment ​
-Therefore, caution must be taken when applying findings like Lorenz’s study to humans

Question 14

One strength of the learning theory (supports operant conditioning)

Answer 14

Support for the theory of operant conditioning resulting in formed attachments​
-Dollard & Miller argued that in a baby’s first year of life, they are fed 2000 times - generally by the main, consistent caregiver​
-This showing how the infant is given many occasions to associate the carer with the removal of the unpleasant feelings of hunger ​
-This supports the idea that attachments are formed through operant conditioning as the baby recognises

Question 15

One limitation of the learning theory (reductionist)

Answer 15

Behaviourist explanations are reductionist as they explain complex behaviours (like attachment) in a very simple way​
-The learning theory does not consider the internal cognitive processes or the emotional nature of attachments​
-They see babies as taking a passive role in attachment, rather than engaging in active roles such as reciprocity and interactional synchrony​
-This is a limitation as it does not take into consideration emotional factors in forming attachments in early life​
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Question 16

One limitation of the learning theory (no support from animal studies)

Answer 16

Learning theory is not supported by animal research, such as that conducted by Harlow and Lorenz​
-Lorenz found that geese usually imprint before they are fed, and Harlow’s study showed that monkeys attached to the ‘mother’ that provided them comfort, rather than the one that fed them​
-These findings suggest that attachment is based on innate mechanisms and emotional security rather than food reinforcement, like the learning theory suggests​
-This shows how animal studies directly challenge the learning theory, weakening the theory that attachment is a learned behaviour based on reinforcement and association

Question 17

One strength of Bowlby’s monotropic theory (supports continuity hypothesis)

Answer 17

Supports the continuity hypothesis as correct​
-Bailey et Al tested the idea that attachment can be passed down from one generation to the next by assessing 99 mothers’ attachment to their babies and comparing it to the mother’s attachment with their mother.​
-Findings showed that the mothers who reported poor attachments with their own mother, had a child who also developed a poor attachment ​
-This is a strength for the internal working model as it proves that attachment types are passed down generations

Question 18

One strength of Bowlby’s monotropic theory (supports social releasers)

Answer 18

Supports the theory of social releasers being crucial to a child’s ability to form attachments​
-Brazelton et Al observed mothers and babies who showed interactional synchrony towards one another, resulting in the baby being content and communicative with their mother​
-As well as this, it was also observed how babies react when the mother quits participating in interactional synchrony, seeing how the babies showed signs of distress and helplessness​
-This is a strength as it supports that mothers responding to the social releasers is crucial to forming a strong mother-child bond

Question 19

One limitation of Bowlby’s monotropic theory (socially sensitive)

Answer 19

Socially sensitive​
-Monotropy is a socially sensitive idea as it has major implications for the lifestyle choices mothers feel they can make when their children are young​
-Burman points out that monotropy ‘sets women up to take the blame if anything goes wrong with their child’​
-This is a limitation as it suggests that the mother is at fault for anything that goes wrong with the child, or the attachment type developed

Question 20

One limitation of Bowlby’s monotropic theory (nature vs nurture)

Answer 20

A limitation is that it rises the nature vs nurture debate​
-Kagan noted that innate, temperamental characteristics which made the child ‘easy’ or ‘difficult’ has a serious impact on the quality of the mother-infant relationship​
-These innate temperaments would therefore impact the child’s attachment type and later relationships​
-Limitation as some babies are easy or difficult by nature, and this cannot be fixed even if the mother were to do everything perfectly

Question 21

One strength of types of attachment (predictive validity)

Answer 21

Good predicative validity​
-McCormick at Al found that ‘type B’ tend to have better outcomes in life, such as better achievement in school and less involvement in bullying. Whilst Ward et Al found that ‘type B’ children tend to have a better mental health in adulthood​
-Both of these examples showing how the strange situation’s outcomes can predict some aspects of a baby’s later development ​
-This is a strength as the strange situation shows to measure something meaningful in the development of a baby.

Question 22

One strength of types of attachment (inter-rater reliability)

Answer 22

Good inter-rater reliability​
-Bick et Al showed that different trained observers agreed on the attachment types found by Ainsworth 94% of the time – 80% being the minimum for inter-rater reliability to be valid​
-This is potentially due to the high levels of control in the experiment, making it more reliable​
-A strength because we can be sure the attachment types identified are not subjective, due to high inter-rater reliability

Question 23

One limitation of types of attachment (ignores influence of genetics)

Answer 23

Does not incorporate any influence from genetics​
-Kagan suggested that anxiety that is genetically influenced could be the reason for variations in attachment behaviour​
-Showing how signs of stranger or separation anxiety observed could be due to genetic influences, rather than the strange situation itself​
-This is a limitation as it could be argued that the strange situation isn’t entirely measuring attachment types​
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Question 24

One limitation of types of attachment (all cultures)

Answer 24

Strange situation is not applicable to all cultures​
-Takahashi babies displayed high levels of separation anxiety, causing a disproportionate number to be categorised as insecure-resistant​
-However, this is likely to be due to Japan’s culture whereby babies and mothers are hardly ever separated, which differs to individualistic cultures​
-The SS was developed in the UK and USA, so the findings may not be valid for all cultures

Question 25

One strength of cultural variations (indigenous researchers)

Answer 25

Most of the studies were conducted by indigenous researchers​ -This means that they came from the same cultural background as the participants, such as in Grossman et Al’s study in 1981​ -Therefore, this gives the study high validity as researchers and participants can communicate successfully​ -This is a strength because typical issues with cross cultural studies eg language barriers, are not a problem

Question 26

One limitation of cultural variations (cofounding variables)

Answer 26

The impact of cofounding variables on findings​ -Studies conducted in different countries may not be matched for sample characteristics eg using children of different ages or social class​ -As well as this, the environmental variables may differ also​ -This means that studies assessing attachment types carried out in different countries may tell us little about cultural differences in attachment ​

Question 27

One limitation of cultural variations (non-western vs western)

Answer 27

The strange situation may not be appropriate to non-Western cultures​ -The strange situation test was developed by an American researcher, and based on a British theory. It is therefore questionable as to whether Western theories and assessment techniques that are designed in one culture are appropriate to apply to all cultures​ -This is known as imposed etic, and it can be a problem as it means comparing different cultures is irrelevant and meaningless

Question 28

One strength of 44 thieves/maternal deprivation (animal study support)

Answer 28

Supported by an animal study​ -Levy et Al found that when separating mother rats from baby rats, even for 1 day, the separation had a permanent affect on the social development of the baby rats​ -This shows how even a small separation can cause psychological harm to the baby rats, subsequently affecting their ability to form attachments​ -This therefore supports Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation as it shows how a small amount of deprivation negatively affected the baby rats

Question 29

One limitation of 44 thieves/maternal deprivation (researcher bias)

Answer 29

Flawed evidence due to researcher bias​ -Bowlby carried out the interviews with the thieves himself, as well as the assessments of whether they showed signs of affectionless psychopathy ​ -This is an issue as he knew in advance what signs he was looking for during the interviews, resulting in researcher bias ​ -A limitation as it means Bowlby had no real evidence on which to base his theory of maternal deprivation, as well as the ‘evidence’ gathered being entirely subjective

Question 30

One limitation of 44 thieves/maternal deprivation (deprivation vs privation)

Answer 30

Limitation is Rutter’s suggestion of deprivation vs privation’​ -Rutter made the distinction between deprivation and privation – deprivation being separation from an attachment figure, and privation being the failure to ever from an attachment.​ -This poses the question as to whether the 44 thieves Bowlby studied were ‘prived’, rather than deprived​ -This means that Bowlby probably exaggerated the effects of deprivation on development

Question 31

One limitation of 44 thieves/maternal deprivation (reversible)

Answer 31

Animal studies showing that the effects of maternal deprivation can be reversed ​ -Harlow’s Rhesus Monkey study concluded that early maternal deprivation was, indeed, emotionally damaging. But this effect could be reversed if the monkey was returned to ‘normal’ conditions and then formed an attachment before the end of the critical period ​ -To further this, if a monkey was returned to its normal environment outside of the critical period, then no amount of exposure to mothers or other monkeys could reverse the damage that had been done​ -This study therefore suggests that social deprivation is more detrimental than just maternal deprivation, and it has a longer lasting impact

Question 32

One strength of Romanian orphans/effects of institutionalisation (real-world app)

Answer 32

Led to practical real-world applications​ -Results from the research has led to improvements in the way children are cared for in institutions​ -Children’s homes now avoid having large numbers of caregivers for each child, instead having one or two ‘key’ workers who playa central role​ -This gives the child a chance to develop normal attachments and avoid disinhibited attachment

Question 33

One strength of Romanian orphans/effects of institutionalisation (fewer confounding variables)

Answer 33

-Fewer cofounding variable than other research​ -There were many orphan studies before the Romanian orphans became available to study, these often involved children who experienced loss of trauma before they were institutionalised ​ -Neglect and abuse meant it was hard to observe the effects of institutionalisation in isolation. The children wee affected by multiple factors functioning as cofounding variables​ -In the case of Romanian orphans, it is possible to study institutionalisation without these cofounding variables because most ere abandoned at birth, so the findings have increased internal validity​

Question 34

One limitation of Romanian orphans/effects of institutionalisation (generalisability)

Answer 34

Issues with generalisability in the Romanian study​ -The conditions of the orphanage are so bad that the results ay not apply to institutional care or general situations of deprivation​ -Romanian orphanages had particularly poor standards of care, especially when it came to forming any relationships with the children​ -The unusual situational variables mean the studies may lack generalisability

Question 35

One strength of early attachment on later relationships (research support)

Answer 35

Has good research support​ -There are many studies showing a link between infant attachment type and later development, including things like bullying, romantic relationships and parenting​ -A review by Fearon and Roisman concluded that early attachment consistently predicts later attachment, emotional well-being and attachment to our own children​ -This means that secure attachments as a baby appear to convey advantages for future development while insecure/disorganised attachment appears to seriously disadvantage children

Question 36

One limitation of early attachment on later relationships (contradictory research)

Answer 36

-However, not all evidence from research supports the continuity between early and later attachments​ -Becker-stoll et Al carried out a longitudinal study whereby 43 individuals were followed from ages 1-16, they were assessed and there was no evidence of continuity of attachment types between these ages​ -This means it is not entirely clear as to what extent the quality of early attachments really can predict later attachments​ -This is a limitation as it suggests there may be other factors that affect later relationships than just early attachments

Question 37

One limitation of early attachment on later relationships (validity)

Answer 37

Issues with validity​ -Most of the studies on the link between early and later attachment are based on retrospective studies and not longitudinal​ -These retrospective studies assess participants’ attachment type in adulthood using questionnaires and interviews, meaning participants may not remember their childhood accurately or may not be honest​ -Validity of interviews/questionnaires is therefore limited and the findings may not be accurate or reliable ​