Attachment-paper 1

Question 1

What is meant by attachment?

Answer 1

A strong reciprocal emotional bond between an infant and a primary caregiver.

Question 2

Describe the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson’s study.

Answer 2

-60 babies from the same estate in Glasgow.
-They analysed the interactions between infants and carers.
-They interviewed the carers.
-The mother had to keep a diary to track the infants behaviour based on following measures:
Separation anxiety
Stranger anxiety
Social referencing
-It was a longitudinal study over 18 months.
-They visited infants on a monthly basis.

Question 3

What is social referencing?

Answer 3

How often an infant looks at their carer to check how they should response to a new situations.

Question 4

What is stranger anxiety?

Answer 4

Signs of distress as a response to a stranger leaving.

Question 5

What is separation anxiety?

Answer 5

Signs of distress when the carer leaves and how much the infant needs to be comforted when the carer returns.

Question 6

What is the asocial stage of attachment?

Answer 6

(0-6 weeks)
The infant will respond to objects and people similarly, but may respond to faces and eyes.

Question 7

What is the indiscriminate stage of attachment?

Answer 7

(6 weeks -6 months)
The infant develops more responses to human company. Although they can tell the difference between different people they can be comforted by anyone.

Question 8

What is the specific attachment stage of attachment?

Answer 8

(7-10 Months)
The infant prefers one specific carer and will seek comfort and protection from particular people. They also start to show stranger anxiety and separation anxiety.

Question 9

What is the multiple attachments stage of attachment?

Answer 9

(10 months+)
The infant forms multiple attachments and seeks comfort and protection from many people.
They may also show separation anxiety to many people.

Question 10

How does behaviour of a securely attached infant doffer from that of an insecurely attached infant?
(4 marks)

Question 11

Outline the learning theory of attachment.
(4 marks)

Answer 11

• Emphases importance of food in attachment (cupboard love).
• The role of classical conditioning
  mother: NS food: CS pleasure: CR
• The role of operant conditioning
  negative reinforcement to stop crying
• Hunger is the primary drive, attachment is secondary drive.
  learned by an association between the caregiver and satisfaction.
• Credit for:
  stimulus generalisation.
  referemce to SLT

Question 12

Outline Van Ijzendoorn’s investigation of cultural variations in attachment.
(6 marks)

Answer 12

• Meta-analysis of 32 studies of attachment across 8 countries.
• Use of strange situation data to classify infants as either secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant.
• Securely attached was the most common (50% in China to 75% in the UK)
• In collectivist cultures rates of insecure-resistant attachments were higher.
• In Germany, rates of insecure-avoidant were higher.