AQA Psychology - Attachment

What is a strong emotional, enduring bond that an infant had with one or more of their caregivers?

attachment

What qualities do attachments in infancy have?

selective, involve in proximity seeking, comfort, security, separation anxiety

Which term is used to refer to the interaction between two people where they respond to each other's signals, one after the other?

reciprocity

What can reciprocity be described as?

turn-taking, back-and-forth

In the mother-infant interaction, who pick up on and respond to the other signals more?

mother

What happens when infants move their bodies in tune with the rhythm of caregiver's spoken language?

interactional synchrony

What is an item that describes interactional synchrony?

mirror

Who found that infants aged 2-3 weeks tended to mimic adults' specific facial expressions and hand movements?

Melzoff and Moore (1977)

Who found that high level of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachment?

Isabella et al (1989)

What are the weaknesses of Caregiver-Infant interactions?

not found in all cultures/cannot really know for certain that behaviours seen have a special meaning

Who developed the theory of stages of attachment?

Schaffer (1996)

What is the stage of attachment in which babies are asocial and then slowly being able to differentiate between humans and objects?

pre-attachment phase

How long does the pre-attachment phase last?

6 weeks

What is the phase in which infants can begin to distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people, but remain generally sociable?

indiscriminate attachment phase

How long does the indiscriminate attachment phase last?

6 weeks to 7 months

At what stage do infants start showing separation anxiety, stranger anxiety and have formed a specific attachment to one person?

specific attachment phase

How long does the specific attachment phase last?

from 7/8 months onwards

At which stage do infants start developing multiple attachments (secondary attachments)?

multiple attachments stage

How many months old would the infant be when the start the multiple attachments stage?

10-11 months

What are the attachments with other close people, other than the primary attachment, called?

secondary attachments

Who did research that support the stages of attachment theory?

Schaffer and Emerson

How many Glaswegian infants and their mothers were involved in Schaffer and Emerson's study?

60

What percentage of the Glaswegian infants formed multiple attachments within one month of first forming a primary attachment?

29%

What are some criticisms of Schaffer stages of attachment theory?

lack temporal validity / based on flawed research / ethnocentric

What is the infant creating when they develop an attachment to two or more people?

multiple attachments

What is still unclear with regards to multiple attachments (evaluation)?

when multiple attachments are formed

What can affect the attachments form in infants?

their cultural context

Why are fathers less likely to be primary attachment figures than mothers, according to Heermann et al (1994)?

men are less sensitive to infants' cues

Who showed that fathers' play interactions are more exciting and pleasurable than mothers?

Geiger (1996)

What skills can infants developed from the lack of sensitivity from fathers?

problem-solving

What percentage of infants formed an attachment with the father by the age of 18 months, as found by Schaffer and Emerson?

75%

What does stereotypical accounts and images of parenting roles and behaviour in research into the role of the father lead to?

unintentional observer bias / questions internal validity

What is an example of real-world application of research into the role of the father?

offer parenting advice

How does research into the role of the father lead to implications with the economy?

fathers stay at home and contribute less to the economy, paternity leave, mothers can return to work

Why is there conflicting evidence with regards to the role of the father?

children in single-mother and lesbian-parent families develop the same with children in two-parent heterosexual families

Which psychologist tested the effects of imprinting?

Lorenz

Which animal did Lorenz use?

greylag geese (goslings)

What happened to the goslings that hatched in the incubator?

they saw Lorenz as the first moving object

What did Lorenz became, regarding the geese that hatched in the incubator?

(their) imprinted parent

What did Lorenz conclude about the process of attachment as a result of his study?

attachment is an instinctive process

Who imprint a yellow rubber glove on the chicks?

Guiton (1966)

What is an issue with animal studies into attachment?

findings are difficult to generalise to humans

What theory was Harlow testing?

learning theory of attachment

What was the sample for Harlow's study?

8 baby Rhesus monkeys

What were the two wire model "mothers?"

plain wire that gave milk and cloth covered which gave comfort

How long did the observation into the rhesus monkeys last?

165 days

How did Harlow test for the learning theory of attachment?

record amount of time spent with each mother

Which mother did the monkeys spend more time with?

cloth-covered mother

What was more important to the monkeys than food when it came to attachment behaviour, as suggested by Harlow?

contact comfort

What is contact comfort associated with, according to Harlow?

emotional security

Which ethical code of conduct did Harlow's research violate?

lack of protection from harm

Name a strength of Harlow's research

high control over variables/practical applications

What does the learning theory suggests about attachments?

attachments are 'learned'

Through which processes is attachment learnt?

classical and operant conditioning

What is the unconditioned stimulus in the learning theory of attachment?

food

What is associated with pleasure in the learning theory of attachment?

caregiver

When the caregiver responds to the infant crying, making the child happy and the child learns to repeat this behaviour - what is this an example of?

positive reinforcement

When the child cries and the caregiver feels distress, they feed the child to stop them from crying and repeat the behaviour - what is this an example of?

negative reinforcement

Who studied an African tribe (Efe) from Zaire and found that despite being fed by different women, the infant still showed a primary attachment to their biological mother?

Tronick et al (1992)

Which other research provide evidence against the learning theory of attachment?

Harlow, Lorenz, Schaffer and Emerson

What does Bowlby's monotropic theory suggest about forming an attachment?

infants are innately programmed to form an attachment from birth

What does Bowlby suggest is the reason for infants to form an attachment to a caregiver?

adaptive (it increases the chance of survival)

Attachment is seen as a biological process, what are infants born with that programs them to exhibit innate behaviours?

attachment gene

What are innate behaviours that increase infants' chance of receiving care called?

social releasers

What is the period in which attachments tend to be formed called?

critical period

What is the critical period for humans?

6 months to 2.5 years

What is the one relationship (usually with the mother) that is of special significance and the drive to have one main attachment called?

monotropy (monotropic)

What is formed based on the first attachment that is crucial for later development?

internal working model

What is the term used to describe the way people tend to base their parenting behaviour on their own experiences of being parented?

continuity hypothesis

Who found a strong correlation between childhood attachment type and adult relationships?

Hazen and Shaver

Which other research support Bowlby's monotropy theory?

Lorenz and Tronick

What does Rutter et al (1990) proposed as an alternative to the idea of a critical period?

sensitive period

Who assessed individual differences in attachment using the "Strange Situation?"

Ainsworth (1970)

What were the four key behaviours observed by Ainsworth?

separation anxiety, reunion behaviour, stranger anxiety, exploration behaviour

Which of the behaviours is tested when the child's reaction to the caregiver leaving was observed?

separation anxiety

Which of the behaviours is tested when the child's reaction to the caregiver returning was observed?

reunion behaviour

Which of the behaviours is tested when the child's reaction to the stranger entering/leaving the room was observed?

stranger anxiety

Which of the behaviours is recorded when the child explore their environment was observed?

exploration behaviour

How many short episodes, in which mother and a stranger take turn in entering, interacting and leaving the room, were there in Ainsworth observation?

8

What type of observation was Ainsworth's study?

controlled, non-participant, overt

What are the 3 different types of attachments?

insecure avoidant, securely attached, insecure resistant

In which type of attachment does the babies demonstrate no sign of separation anxiety, no reunion behaviour, no stranger anxiety and the willingness to explore?

insecure avoidant

In which type of attachment does the babies demonstrate distress in mother's absence but will be happy and comfortable in mother's presence?

secure attachment

In which type of attachment does babies show severe separation anxiety, extreme stranger anxiety, not easily comforted and not willing to explore the new environment?

insecure resistant

What has a significant impact on the attachment type of the infant?

sensitivity of the caregiver

Since the observation is held in a laboratory, what type of validity is the observation lacking?

ecological validity

What is a strength of the "Strange Situation" observation?

easy to replicate cross-culturally

Which ethical code of conduct does Ainsworth's study be criticized of violating?

lack of protection from harm

Why can we not generalise the results of Ainsworth's study to other attachment figures?

ignores the father

What is the fourth attachment type as proposed by Main and Solomon (1986) that includes infants who were inconsistent?

disorganised attachment

Which extraneous variable does Ainsworth's study potentially suffer from?

demand characteristics

Who did research into cultural variations of attachment in 1988?

Van Ijzendoorn

Which type of research method was used in van Ijzendoorn’s research?

meta-analysis

What are differences between different cultures?

inter-cultural differences

What are difference within the same culture?

intra-cultural differences

How many studies of attachment behaviours were included in the meta-analysis?

32 studies

How many countries were analysed?

8

Which country has 18 studies represented in the meta-analysis?

USA

Which type of attachment is the most common?

secure attachment

Which attachment type was the second most common in all countries apart from Israel and Japan?

insecure-avoidant