attachment

• define attachment

  A strong reciprocal emotional bond between infant and primary caregiver
• what is reciprocity

  a description of how 2 people interact e.g turn taking. Reciprocal as both infant and mother respond to signals and elicit a response
• what is interactional synchrony

  mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a synchronised way
• define sensitive responsiveness

  Adult caregiver correctly interprets the meaning of the infant's communication and responses appropriately
• the still face experiment (procedure,findings)

  • observed caregiver playing with baby followed by a still face episode where the caregiver is unresponsive (2-3 minutes)
  • found that babies have a clear reaction to lack of emotional connection affecting child's emotions and social response
• Melzoff and Moore (1977)

  • Melzoff and Moore (1977) discovered that infants aged two to three weeks displayed a tendency to mimic adults’ facial expressions and hand movements, indicating that mimicking is an innate ability that helps in the formation of attachment.
• Coldon and Sander (1974)


  Condon and Sander (1974) - videotaped interaction between adult and child providing evidence of interactional synchrony as babies move in time with conversation.
• evaluation of caregiver-infant interactions strength

  Many studies use multiple observers blind to the true aims of the experiment providing inter-rater reliability. The use of cameras to document and slow down micro sequences provides high inter rater reliability.
• limitation of caregiver-infant interactions in humans (unscientific)


  Infants cannot directly communicate their thoughts and emotions. Therefore finding in caregiver-infant interactions research depend on assumptions which can be considered to be unscientific
• social sensitivity in caregiver infant interactions


  Social sensitivity is a concern when investigating child rearing techniques including normality surrounding caregiver-infant interactions. Furthermore the mother could go back to work affecting the attachment of the child.
• limitation of caregiver-infant interactions (observational methods)

  Problem with research using observational methods is it can lead to observational bias. Koepke et al (1983) failed to replicate Meltzoff and Moore suggesting unreliable results.
• what are the 4 stages of attachment

  Asocial

  Indiscriminate

  Specific Attachment

  Multiple Attachment
• define the asocial stage

  Asocial - 0-6 weeks babies display innate behaviours (smiling/crying) and similar behaviour to non-objects and humans therefore no preference for individual caregiver
• define the indiscriminate stage

  Indiscriminate - 6 weeks to 7 months infants develops a preference for people and show a preference for people seen frequently however no strong preference
• define the specific attachment stage

  Specific attachment - 7 months babies form a strong attachment to primary caregiver most often mother. Stranger anxiety and separation anxiety develop.
• define the multiple attachment stage

  Multiple attachment -9+ months The infant can form attachments to other caregivers and stranger anxiety decreases.
• strength of stages of attachment (practical)

  Practical applications e.g time to get a child into nursery. More problematic at specific attachment stages due to separation and stranger anxiety.
• limitation of stages of attachment (conflicting research)

  • conflicting research into multiple attachments. Some psychologists suggest babies form an attachment to a single caregiver before multiple.(Bowlby 1969)
  • Others working in more cultural contexts believe babies for multiple attachments from outset. Limiting stages of attachment and therefore validity.
• limitation of stages of attachment (methodology)

  -drawing conclusions from asocial stage is problematic as babies have poor coordination and mobility therefore it is difficult to make judgments based on observation weakening the methodology as evidence isn't as reliable due to limited judgement of behaviour
• Describe the study of Schaffer and Emerson (A01)

  Schaffer and Emerson (1964) - conducted a longitudinal observation of 60 working class babies from Glasgow asking mothers about protests the babies made in seven everyday separations. It was found that separation anxiety occured in 50% of babies by 25-32 weeks with stranger anxiety starting a month later. By 40 weeks 80% of babies had specific attachments and 30% had multiple attachments.
• strength of Shaffer and Emerson (external validity)


  study had high external validity as observations were carried out in family homes therefore behaviour would be unchanged (mundane realism)
• strength of Shaffer and Emerson (length of study)

  longitudinal so babies were observed regularly opposed to quickly observing different children. High internal validity as there are no confounding or pps variables.
• limitation of Schaffer and Emerson (pop validity)

  Low population validity as the sample were all in the same location and class not taking into account other child rearing culture decreasing generalizability of the study.
• what did Schaffer find about fathers role in attachment

  Schaffer (1964) found that a 75% of children formed an attachment to their father showing separation anxiety suggesting fathers play an important role in their lives
• what is considered the fathers role

  Active Play - fathers are seen to encourage and engage babies in active play activities more consistently than mothers.
• evidence for fathers role as a playmate

  Grossman et al (2002) - longitudinal study into parents' behaviours and relationship quality of attachment with baby in later life. Findings suggested that fathers play a play+stimulation role.
• what is a more recent contridiction of fathers role

  Primary caregiver - men take on this role their interactional style changes to be more similar to a mothers - increases capacity of sensitive responsiveness.
• what research suggests that fathers can be primary caregivers

  Field et al (1978) filmed face to face interactions with primary caregiver mother and father and secondary fathers. Both primary caregivers spent more time smiling and imitating baby highlighting reciprocity and interactional synchrony suggesting fathers can be primary attachment figures
• strength of the practical applications of role of the father

  Practical applications into research of biologically differences therefore men aren't equipped innately (Hrdy 1999) can be applied to provide support for men and therefore take a more practical role in their child's development
• limitation of role of the father (mixed research)

  There is mixed research into the role of the father Distinct role as playmate (grossman et al 2002) + (Geiger 1996) conflicted with Field (1978) focusing on the father as a primary caregiver
• limitation of role of the father (social sensitivity)


  Socially sensitive research due to differences in families as mothers and fathers have different 'roles' potentially putting children at disadvantage. Influence socioeconomic factors
• reason for and against using animals in studies

  adv - some research designs wouldn't be ethical on humans

  Dis- unethical to inflict suffering onto animals without consent
• Explain the study of Lorenz (1935)


  Lorenz (1935) tested imprinting to see if animals imprinted with the first subject met visually.

  Procedure+Findings : Classic experiment randomly divided up geese eggs into 2 groups (one with mother and one in incubator). The control group imprinted on mother and incubator imprinted on Lorenz. Lorenz determined a critical period of 32 hours for imprinting otherwise ability is lost.
• explain the study of harlow (1958)

  Harlow (1958) tested the 'cupboard love theory' that babies love their mothers because they provide food.

  Procedure- laboratory experiment the monkeys were placed in cages with surrogate mothers (wire containing milk and cloth without milk).

  Results- monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth monkey and only used wire to feed. Monkey's grew up to become socially and emotionally disturbed due to maternal deprivation.
• strength of Harlow's research (lab)


  Harlow's experiment was a lab so there was control over confounding and extraneous variables.
• strength of Harlow (theories of attachment)

  Harlow's research helped understand mother-infant attachment. In the sense that attachment does not just develop due to being fed therefore, the importance of a quality early attachment contradicts the learning theory
• strength of animal studies

  Practical application applied to early childcare and immediate physical contact after birth (harlow 1958)
• Limitation of Animal studies (generalisability)

  Lorenz research cannot be generalisable to humans as birds and humans have different attachment styles therefore decreasing the population validity of the study. This is the same for Harlow's research.
• Limitation of Animal studies (validity)

  Lorenz observations can be seen as questionable due to Guton et al (1966) where chickens imprint on yellow gloves and try to mate with them. However they learnt to mate with other chickens highlighting the decrease in external validity in Lorenz findings
• Limitation of Animal studies (ethical issues)

  Ethical issues with Harlow's study as monkeys were placed in a stressful environment and later showed signs of psychological harm. They're social animals so it is also unfair to force them into isolation which also decreased the ecological validity of the experiment as the environment was unfamiliar.