AQA A-Level Psychology: Attachment. Full topic notes
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Course
Attachment
Institution
AQA
For A-Level Psychology, new series
Written in an easily understandable, comprehensive, and succinct format that can be converted into essay notes (a plan of each 16 mark question) or answers to shorter questions
ATTACHMENT (Paper 1)
Covering all required topics including:
-Research into Careg...
, DISCUSS RESEARCH INTO CAREGIVER-INFANT INTERACTIONS
AO1
Attachment is a strong emotional bond that an infant has with one or more caregivers. In infancy has
specific characteristics: selective (formed with specific people), involve proximity seeking (efforts to be
physically close to the attachment figure), provide comfort and security, distress on separation
Bowlby (1951):
a single primary attachment relationship between mother and infant is essential for healthy
psychological development (mother love in infancy is as important for mental health as vitamins are
for physical)
How do carers and babies communicate?:
Reciprocity:
Babies have periodic alert phrases and signals to show that they are ready for interaction- mothers
pick up on these around 2/3rds of the time. From around 3 months old, this interaction is increasingly
frequent and involves close attention to others verbal and facial signals. Reciprocity refers to when
each person responds to these signals and elicits a response from them. Traditional views of
childhood saw babies in passive roles however it appears babies have an active role, and both figures
initiate and take turns in eliciting responses
Interactional synchrony:
Two people are synchronised when they carry out the same action simultaneously. Interactional
synchrony is when infants move their bodies in tune with the rhythm of caregiver language, to
reinforce the attachment bond. Mother and infant interactions and emotions mirror each others
Meltzoff and Moore (1977): Interactional synchrony in caregiver-infant interactions
Found infants aged 2-3 weeks tended to mimic adults’ specific facial expressions and hand
movements, supporting the idea that IS in an innate ability to aid the formation of attachment,
especially as it was subsequently seen in infants of less than 3 days old
Isabella et al (1989): Interactional synchrony in caregiver-infant interactions
Observed 30 mothers and infants and assessed the degree of synchrony and the quality of mother-
infant interaction. Found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-
infant attachment. Showing IS is important in forming attachments
AO3:
Interactional synchrony is not found in all cultures. Le vine et al (1994) reported that Kenyan mothers
have little interactions with their infants, but that such infants have high levels of secure attachments.
This indicates that interactional synchrony is not necessary for the formation of attachment, and
means the explanation is culturally biased to a western model of attachment, making other parenting
styles seem inferior and unsophisticated compared to this.
Many studies involving observation of interactions between mothers and infants have shown the same
patterns of attachment, however observed behaviour is hand movement or expression based. It is
extremely difficult to be certain therefore that the actions are conscious and deliberate from the infant.
This means we cannot know for certain that exhibited behaviours have special or significant meanings
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