Attatchment

Question 1

What are the two types of caregiver-infant interactions?

Answer 1

Interactional synchrony
Reciprocity

Question 2

What is Interactional synchrony?

Answer 2

Mirroring of facial expressions/movements during communication

Question 3

What is reciprocity?

Answer 3

Infant copies the caregiver e.g. caregiver claps and infant claps

Question 4

Evaluate caregiver infant interactions?

Answer 4

Supported by Frozen face experiment
Lacks ecological validity

Question 5

What are Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment?

Answer 5

1.Pre-attatchment - similar response to humans and objects
2. Indiscriminate - forming preference to humans over objects
3. Discriminate - attachment to primary caregiver with separation and stranger anxiety
4. Multiple attachment - secondary attachment formed, PCG 65% is the mother

Question 6

Evaluate Schaffer and Emerson’s study on attachment?

Answer 6

Findings could be bias as relies on self report from mothers
Findings likely to lack generalisability due to small samples size
Other explanation - Bowlby disagrees about the importance of multiple attatchments

Question 7

What was the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

Answer 7

18 month study of 60 infants and mothers in Glasgow

Question 8

What is the role of the father?

Answer 8

More likely to be secondary caregiver
Adopt play-mate role involving playing games
Adopts caregiving role in absence of mother
Attachment to father influences later development e.g. IQ

Question 9

Evaluate the role of the father?

Answer 9

Importance of the father is questioned -people living in same sex household do not develop differently
Opposing views - Bowlby states father only pays and economic role

Question 10

What was the procedure of Lorenz’s study?

Answer 10

Geese eggs split into a group that hatched with the mother and a group that hatched with the incubator

Question 11

What were the results of Lorenz’s study?

Answer 11

When the incubator eggs hatched they followed Lorenz (imprinting)
This was long-lasting and irreversable

Question 12

Evaluate Lorenz’s study?

Answer 12

Issue generalising to humans
Evidence supporting imprinting can be reversed (chicken study)

Question 13

What was the procedure of Harlow’s study?

Answer 13

8 monkeys were caged with 2 wire mothers one with a cloth for comfort and the other with food. The time spent on each mother was measured.
Loud noises were made to scare the monkey

Question 14

What were the results of Harlow’s study?

Answer 14

Monkey’s spent 23/24 hours with the cloth monkey
When frightened they would cling to the cloth mother

Question 15

Evaluate Harlow’s study?

Answer 15

Issue generalising findings to humans
Ethical issues (monkey frightened)

Question 16

What was the procedure for Ainsworth’s strange situation study?

Answer 16

Controlled observation, infant observed through one way mirror, behaviour recorded every 15 seconds, seperation anxiety, reunion behaviour, stranger anxiety and exploration were all measured

Question 17

What were the results of the Strange situation study?

Answer 17

Secure attachment - 66%
Avoidant - 22%
Resistent - 12%

Question 18

What does secure attatchment mean?

Answer 18

moderate seperation distress and stranger anxiety
seeks mother on reuinion

Question 19

What does insecure avoidant attachment mean?

Answer 19

High exploration, low seperation and stranger anxiety avoids/ignores mother on reunion

Question 20

What does insecure resistant attachment mean?

Answer 20

low exploration high stranger and seperation anxiety
seeks and rejects mother on reunion

Question 21

Evaluate Ainsworth’s strange situation?

Answer 21

High reliability (94% agreement between observers on attachment type)
Issues with artificial setting/ demand characteristics (mother may change behaviour
Doesn’t include attachment to the father
Is ethnocentric (may not be able to apply to other culture)
Unethical as it causes distress

Question 22

What are the cultural variations of Ainsworth’s strange situation?

Answer 22

Van Izjendoorn meta-analysis of 32 studies in 8 countries, 2000 strange situation classifications

Question 23

What were the results of Van Izjendoorn’s cultural variations?

Answer 23

Secure is most common
Avoidant is 2nd most common expept in Israel and Japan (Collectivist)
Resistant is least common in individualistic cultures

Question 24

Evaluate Van Izjendoorn’s cultural variations?

Answer 24

Large sample size (32 studies, 8 countries)
Although not representative of all cultures (Japan and Israel)

Question 25

Outline the learning theory of attachment?

Answer 25

Classical conditioning - Baby finds food pleasurable as the primary caregiver is giving the baby food over time the baby forms an attatchment with PCG as they associate them with food Operant conditioning - attahcment maintained as infant seeks out mother to recieve the reward of food Cupboard love

Question 26

Evaluate the learning theory of attatchment?

Answer 26

Not supported by animal studies (as they shows food is not as important) Too simplistic to explain human behaviour (doesn't account for emotion

Question 27

What are Bowlby's explanations of attatchment? (5)

Answer 27

Adaptive and innate Monotropy - one special attachment to mother Critical period - attachment forming in 3-6 months Internal working model - attachment to mother works as template for future Continuity hypothesis - attachment in infancy influences later attachment

Question 28

Evaluate Bowlby's explanations of attatchment?

Answer 28

Continuity is supported by Hazen and Shaver (infancy attatchment inpacts romantic relationships) Critical period is too restrictive (children able to form attachments after 6 moths Ignores role of the father Implications on the mother (making them feel they have to give up work to be mother)