Attachment- Year 1

Question 1

What is reciprocity?

Answer 1

Mutual turn-taking for of interaction. Caregiver and infant contribute to interaction by responding to the other’s signals and cues.

Question 2

What is Interactional synchrony?

Answer 2

Simultaneous interaction between infant and caregiver. Matching emotional states and coordinated behaviour.

Question 3

What is imitation?

Answer 3

Infant directly copies caregiver’s expression.

Question 4

Who found that the majority of babies attach to the mother first, and at what age?

Answer 4

Shaffer and Emmerson, 7 months.

Question 5

Who carried out a longitudinal study investigating the role of the father in caregiver interactions?

Answer 5

Grossman.

Question 6

What type of study was Shaffer and Emerson?

Answer 6

Observational and longitudinal.

Question 7

Who did Shaffer and Emerson study in stages of attachment?

Answer 7

60 infants aged 5-23 weeks.

Question 8

What method did Shaffer and Emerson use?

Answer 8

Infants observed every month until 1 year old, then again at 18 months.
Parents were asked what kind of protest their baby would show in everyday separations.
Researchers also assessed stranger anxiety.

Question 9

What were Shaffer and Emerson’s findings?

Answer 9

25-32 weeks, 50% of babies showed signs of separation anxiety towards certain adult.
By age of 40 weeks, 80% had specific attachment. 30% displayed multiple attachments.

Question 10

What is stage 1 of attachment?

Answer 10

Asocial stage. (0-6 weeks)
Behaviour towards objects and humans are similar. Baby may show some preference for familiar adults.

Question 11

What is stage 2 of attachment?

Answer 11

Indiscriminate attachment (6 weeks-7 months).
More observable social behaviour. Preference to people over objects.
No stranger/separation anxiety.

Question 12

What is stage 3 of attachment?

Answer 12

Specific attachment (7-9 months).
Start showing stranger anxiety and separation anxiety to primary attachment figure.

Question 13

What is stage 4 of attachment?

Answer 13

Multiple attachments (10+ months).
Secondary attachments formed.
In Shaffer and Emerson study, 29% of children had secondary attachments within a month of forming primary attachments.

Question 14

What did Lorenz research into?

Answer 14

Imprinting in goslings.

Question 15

What were Lorenz’s findings?

Answer 15

Goslings that he hatched, imprinted and followed Lorenz. Control group imprinted on mother. Lorenz put all goslings in a box, those imprinted on him followed him and the others to their mother.

Question 16

What did Lorenz identify with his findings?

Answer 16

Critical period when imprinting needs to take place. If imprinting does not occur within this period, chicks do not attach to mother figure.

Question 17

What does Lorenz’s research suggest?

Answer 17

Imprinting is a strong evolutionary/ biological feature of attachment.

Question 18

What theory did Harlow’s research test?

Answer 18

“Cupboard love”- that babies love mothers because they feed them.

Question 19

What were Harlow’s findings?

Answer 19

Baby monkey spent the most time with the cloth mother and only went to food mother when they needed to eat. The went to cloth mother when frightened.

Question 20

What does Harlow’s research suggest?

Answer 20

Monkeys have biological need for physical contact and attach to what provides comfort over food.
This is evidence against cupboard love theory.
Also found that monkeys deprived of real mothers had consequences in adulthood of maternal deprivation.

Question 21

Who proposed that caregiver- infant interactions can be explained by learning theory?

Answer 21

Dollard and Miller.

Question 22

What is learning theory in attachment?

Answer 22

Classical and operant conditioning to explain how a baby is conditioned to love a mother through food.

Question 23

What is a strength of learning theory in attachment?

Answer 23

It has face validity- it makes sense that babies cry more when they learn crying gains attention, and ultimately food.

Question 24

What is the monotropic theory?

Answer 24

Bowlby rejected the learning theory because if it was true, an infant would take to anyone that feeds them, and this isn’t the case.
He argues infants have innate drive to form strong attachment to mother (monotropy) and stay close in proximity.

Question 25

What are social releasers?

Answer 25

signals like crying and smiling to attract caregiver's attention. This helps with monotropic relationship.

Question 26

What is the law of continuity?

Answer 26

More constant and predictable a child's care, the better quality the attachment.

Question 27

What is the law of accumulated separation?

Answer 27

The effects of every separation from the mother adds up.

Question 28

What does Bowlby suggest about the critical period?

Answer 28

A strong monotropic attachment must form 2.5 years after birth.

Question 29

What is the internal working model in attachment?

Answer 29

Child forms a mental representation with primary caregiver. This relationship provides a blueprint for future relationships.

Question 30

What was the aim of Ainsworth's strange situation?

Answer 30

To be able to observe the key attachment behaviours to assess the quality of attachment to a caregiver.

Question 31

What are the behaviours used to judge attachment?

Answer 31

Proximity seeking. Exploration and secure-based behaviour. Stranger anxiety. Separation anxiety. Response to reunion.

Question 32

What is type A attachment?

Answer 32

Insecure avoidant- Infant keeps distance with mother. Low stranger anxiety. Infant is indifferent when mother returns.

Question 33

What is type B attachment?

Answer 33

Secure attachment- Infants use mother as a safe base. Moderate levels of stranger anxiety. Show separation anxiety. Happy reunion response.

Question 34

What is type B attachment?

Answer 34

Insecure resistant- Infants do not explore. High stranger and separation anxiety. Infant craves and rejects mother's attention when she returns.

Question 35

What were Ainsworth's findings?

Answer 35

66% classified as secure 34% classified as insecure. (22% type A, 12% type C)

Question 36

What does Ainsworth's research suggest?

Answer 36

Secure attachment develops due to attention of consistently sensitive responsive mother.

Question 37

Who is the main psychologist that carried out a cultural variation of the strange situation?

Answer 37

Van Ijendoorn.

Question 38

What was the procedure used in Van Ijendoorn's cultural variation?

Answer 38

Meta-analysis of 32 studies from 8 countries. Each study classified attachment types of mothers and infants using strange situation.

Question 39

What were Ijendoorn's findings?

Answer 39

secure attachment was was most common in all countries. Germany- most insecure- avoidant (35%) Japan- most insecure resistant (27%) China- least insecure resistant (50%)

Question 40

What does Ijendoorn's findings suggest?

Answer 40

Secure attachment is the globally preferred attachment type which may further suggest a biological bias.

Question 41

What is a limitation of Ijendoorn's research?

Answer 41

May lack temporal validity- Simonelli et al measured strange situation on modern italian mother-infant pairs finding that there was a significantly lower % of secure infants compared to historically.

Question 42

What do Simonelli's findings suggest?

Answer 42

Change is a healthy coping mechanism due to demands of a modern life as infants adjust to absent mothers.

Question 43

What was Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation?

Answer 43

Nurture from mother is essential for normal psychological development in babies, emotionally and intellectually. Being separated from mother in early childhood has serious consequences.

Question 44

What was the control group used in the 44 thieves study?

Answer 44

Non criminal, but emotionally disturbed young people.

Question 45

What were the findings of the 44 thieves study?

Answer 45

14 out of 44 thieves could be described as affectionless psychopathy. Of this 14, 12 had experienced prolonged separation from mothers during the critical period.

Question 46

What is a strength of the 44 thieves study?

Answer 46

Work has led to positive changes in child welfare like maternity leave.

Question 47

What was Rutter's ERA study?

Answer 47

Longitudinal study of 165 romanian orphans adopted by British families. They were assessed at 4,6,11 and 15 years.

Question 48

What was the control group for Rutter's study?

Answer 48

52 British children adopted at the same time.

Question 49

What were the findings for Rutter's study at 6 years?

Answer 49

Most showed disinhibited attachment, with overly friendliness towards strangers.

Question 50

What were the findings for Rutter's study at 11 years?

Answer 50

Over 50% of those who showed disinhibited attachment at 6 years still showed it now. IQ of those adopted before 6 months was 102, those adopted between 6 months to 2 years was 86, and adopted after 2 years was 77.

Question 51

What do Rutter's findings suggest?

Answer 51

There is no strict critical period, but a sensitive period.

Question 52

What was the Bucharest Early Intervention Project?

Answer 52

Zeanah et al. assessed attachment in 95 children aged 12-31 months. They spent most of their lives in institutional care. Attachment style was measured using the strange situation. Carers asked about unusual social behaviours (Disinhibited behaviours)

Question 53

What was the control group in Zeanah's study?

Answer 53

50 children who had never lived in an institution.

Question 54

What were Zeanah's findings?

Answer 54

74% of control group were securely attached. 19% of institutionalisation group were securely attached. 65% of institutionalisation group classified with disorganised attachment.

Question 55

What did Hazan and Shaver research into?

Answer 55

study of association between attachment and adult relationships.

Question 56

What was the procedure of Hazan and Shaver?

Answer 56

Analysed replies to a "Love quiz" in an american newspaper. Quiz had 3 sections: 1- Current/ most recent relationship. 2- General love experiences like number of partners. 3-Assessed attachment type by asking respondents to choose which of 3 statements described their feelings.

Question 57

What were Shaver and Hazan's findings?

Answer 57

56% were identified with securely attached. 25% insecure avoidant. 19% insecure resistant. Secure- most likely to have long lasting relationships insecure- tended to reveal jealousy and fear of intimacy.