Attachment (AQA A Level Biology spec)

• Transferable AO3


  • Socially sensitive (May affect people represented by the study/ in the study)
  • Practical application (Creates a change in legislation in world)
  • Theoretical application (Leads to other theories being created)
  • Ethical implications (Violates BPS ethical guidelines)
  • Longitudinal (long study leads to high attrition)
• Caregiver infant interactions


  Two way emotional bond, takes a few months to develop
• Reciprocity


  How two people interact/ turn taking/ mother and infant interaction/ e.g infant cries and the mother comforts them
• Interactional synchrony


  Reflection of actions/ emotions in a co-ordinated, synchronised way/ "like a dance"/ e.g mother smiles and the infant also smiles
• Stages of attachment


  • Asocial = 0-6wks
  • Indiscriminate= 6wks - 7mts
  • Specific = 7mts +
  • Multiple = 10mts +
• Theorists proving the role of the father is important/unimportant


  • IMPORTANT: Grossmann et al - essential role involving play and stimulation (emotional development) and therefore important, Schaffer & Emmerson - 75% of babies had made secondary attachments by 18 months, Tiffany Field - Babies can form specific attachments with fathers if they respond to needs in early life (level of responsiveness = level of attachment)
  • NOT IMPORTANT: McCallum & Goombok - single mother and lesbian families do not develop differently to two parent heterosexual families, meaning fathers do not have a distinctive role, Grossmann et al - Quality of a baby's specific attachment creates the template used in adolescents (internal working model). Therefore it's irrelevant whether the role is mother/father, Schaffer and Emerson - Majority of babies become attached to their mother first and in only 3% of children was the father the first attachment
• Types of attachment (BAC)


  • Secure (B)
  • Insecure - avoidant (A)
  • Insecure - Resistant (C)
• Behavioural categories (PRESS)


  • Proximity seeking
  • Reunion response
  • Exploration (secure - base behaviour)
  • Stranger anxiety
  • Separation anxiety
• Learning theory


  A set of theories from the behaviourist approach that emphasise the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour
• Explanations for learning behaviour


  • Classical conditioning = Learning through associations --> E.g infants creating an association between mother and food and therefore attaching to them.
  • Operant conditioning = Learning through consequences
• Positive reinforcement


  Child crying leads to a response from caregiver
• Negative reinforcement


  When the caregiver feeds the child, the crying stops
• Institutionalisation


  A living arrangement outside the family home in which people live for long, continuous periods of time. E.g long stays on a hospital ward or orphanages. Institutions provide very little emotional care, leading to a loss of personal identity. Children are also less likely to form a primary attachment.
• Effects of institutionalisation


  • Disinhibited attachment disorder → Symptoms include attention-seeking behaviours towards the adult, even strangers, a lack of fear of strangers, making inappropriate physical contact with adults and lack of checking back to the parents in stressful situations
  • Intellectual disability → Children who experience institutionalisation are found to have lower levels of IQ than children who have not experienced institutionalisation
  • Problems forming Peer Relations → Problems forming later attachments and peer relations with others due to lack of internal working model
• Internal working model


  This acts as a template for forming future relationships. Positive and reliable caregiver —> seeks functional relationships, Negative and inconsistent caregiver —> Seeks dysfunctional relationships
• Attachment style and parent/child behaviour


  • Secure: Attentive + caring, High self esteem

  Insecure Avoidant: Dismissive, Withdrawn

  Insecure Resistant: Resistant, Frustrated