Summary
Summary AQA Psychology Attachment Notes
- Course
- Institution
- Book
Notes covering the whole of the AS Psychology topic 'Attachment' in depth.
[Show more]
Connected book
Book Title:
Author(s):
- Edition:
- ISBN:
- Edition:
More summaries for
-
A* AQA A-level Psychology Psychopathology Revision Summaries
-
A* AQA A-Level Psychology Attachment Revision Summaries
-
A* AQA A-Level Psychology Memory Revision Summaries
Seller
Follow
StewartGilliganGriffin
Content preview
AttachmentDefining attachment
Attachment is the strong reciprocal emotional bond between an infant and a primary care giver.
Attachment is a two-way relationship and is usually seen aimed at a specific person only. However, recent research
has shown that there can be multiple attachments. Maccoby (1980) identified four key behaviours of attachment:
Seeking proximity to the primary caregiver. The infant tries to stay close to its ‘attachment figure’.
Distress on separation. When the caregiver and infant are separated, both experience feelings of distress.
Pleasure when reunited. Obvious pleasure is shown when the child is reunited with his/her caregiver.
General orientation of behaviour towards primary caregiver. The infant is aware of his/her caregiver at all
times and may frequently make contact for reassurance.
Caregiver-infant interactions
From an early age babies have meaningful social interactions with their carers. It is believed that these interactions
have important functions for the child’s social development, caregiver-infant attachment.
Reciprocity is a description of how two people interact. Mother-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both infant
and mother respond to each-others signals and each elicits a response from the other.
From birth babies and their mothers (or carers) spend a lot of time in intense and pleasurable interaction. Babies
have periodic ‘alert phases’ and signal that they are ready for interaction. Mothers typically pick up on and respond
to infant alertness two-thirds of the time.
From around the age of three months this interaction tends to be increasingly frequent and involves close attention
to each other's verbal signals and facial expressions (Feldman 2007). A key element of this interaction is reciprocity.
An interaction is reciprocal when each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them.
Traditional views of childhood have seen the baby take a passive role, receiving care from an adult. However, it
seems that the baby takes an active role. Both mother and child can initiate interactions and they appear to take
turns in doing so.
Brazelton et al (1975) described the interaction as a ‘dance’ as it is just like a couple’s dance where each partner
responds to each other’s moves.
Interactional synchrony is where mother and infant reflect on both the actions and emotions of the other and do this
in a co-ordinated (synchronised) way, or, ‘the temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour’.
Two people are said to be ‘synchronised’ when they carry out the same action simultaneously. it takes place when a
mother and infant interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror one another.
Meltzoff and Moore (1977) observed the beginning of interactional synchrony in infants as young as two weeks old.
An adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three distinctive gestures. The child’s response was
filmed and identified by independent observers. An association was found between the expression or gesture the
adult had displayed and the actions of the babies. It is believed that interactional synchrony is important for the
development of mother-infant attachment.
Isabella et al (1989) observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony. The
researchers also assessed the quality of mother-infant attachment. They found that high levels of synchrony were
associated with better quality mother-infant attachment.
,Evaluation
It is hard to know what is happening when observing infants-many studies involving observation of interactions
between mothers and infants have shown the same patterns of interaction (Gratier 2003). However, what is being
observed is merely hand movements or changes in expression. It is extremely difficult to be certain, based on these
observations, what is taking place from the infant’s perspective I.e. is it conscious and deliberate? This means we
cannot really know for certain that behaviours seen in mother-infant interaction have a special meaning.
Observations don’t tell us the purpose of synchrony and reciprocity-Feldman (2012) points out that synchrony (and
by implication reciprocity) simply describe behaviours that occur at the same time. These are robust phenomena in
the sense that they can be reliably observed, but this may not be particularly useful as it does not tell us their
purpose. However, there is some evidence that reciprocal interaction and synchrony are helpful in the development
of mother-infant attachment, as well as helpful in stress responses, empathy, language and moral development.
Controlled observations capture fine detail-observations of mother-infant attachment are generally well controlled
procedures, with both mother and infant being filmed, often from multiple angles. This ensures that the very fine
details of behaviour can be recorded and later analysed. Furthermore, babies don’t know or care that they are
being observed so their behaviour doesn’t change in response to controlled observations-which is generally a
problem of observational research-this is essentially the removal of demand characteristics. This is a strength of this
line of research has it means it has good validity.
Socially sensitive research: working mothers-Research into mother-infant interaction is socially sensitive because it
suggests that children may be disadvantaged by particular child rearing practices. In particular, mothers who return
to work too shortly after giving birth restrict opportunities for achieving interactional synchrony, which Isabella et
al showed to be important in the development of caregiver-infant attachment. This suggests that mothers should
not return to work too early and has socially sensitive implications to do so.
The role of the father
Traditionally most research in the area of attachment has ignored the role of the father. It is now felt that
attachment to the father is different to that of the mother. It is based on shorter more intense interactions. Infants
prefer their fathers as playmates but in times of stress prefer the mother.
For Bowlby, the father is of no direct emotional significance to the young infant, but only of indirect value as an
emotional and economic support for the mother. Evolutionary psychologists see mothers as having greater a
parental investment in their offspring, and hence are better prepared for child rearing and attachment. However,
Bowlby’s views on attachment are disputed by findings such as those of Schaffer and Emerson (1964).
Parke (1981) suggests that both mother and father are important attachment objects for their infants however, the
circumstances that lead to the selection of mum or dad may differ. Rather than being a poor substitute for a mother,
fathers make their own unique contribution to the care and development of young infants and young children (at
least in two parent families).
Research has demonstrated that children’s relationship with their father is very important. However, this will
depend on how much involvement he has in their upbringing and how much time is actually spent with the father.
Ross et al (1975) found a strong positive correlation with the number of nappies a father has changed and
how strong their attachment is with the child. It should be considered that this is a CORRELATION therefore
does not allow us to establish cause and effect as it is merely a trend in data which has been applied to a
concept.
Lamb (1983) found that children prefer to play with their fathers as they are more physical than their
mothers.
, Several important factors have been identified that affect the relationship between fathers and children:
Degree of sensitivity-more secure attachments to their children are found in fathers who show more
sensitivity to children’s needs.
Type of attachment with own parents-single-parent fathers tend to form similar attachments with their
children that they had with their own parents.
Marital intimacy-the degree of intimacy the father has with his partner in his relationship with them affects
the type of attachment he will have with his children
Supportive co-parenting-the amount of support the father gives to his partner in helping to care for the
children affects the type of attachment he will have with his children.
Evaluation
Social connection-children with secure attachments to their fathers go on to have a better relationship with their
peers, less problem behaviours and are more able to regulate their emotions; illustrating the positive influence
fathers can have on development outcomes.
Third factor causing social issues-children who grow up without fathers have often been seen to do less well at
school and have higher levels of risk-taking and aggression, especially in boys. This suggests that fathers can be
instrumental in preventing negative outcomes of development. However, Pedersen (1979) points out that most
studies have focused on female single mothers from poor socio-economic backgrounds, so it may be the social
issues related to poverty that produces these outcomes not the absence of fathers.
Supporting/contradictory evidence-these studies support the idea that fathers have a role in their child's
development. However other studies have found that children growing up in single or same-sex parent families do
not develop any differently from those in two-parent heterosexual families (possibly due to individual circumstances
and the interaction with peers cancelling such an issue out?). This would suggest that the father’s role as an
attachment figure is not important.
Other explanations-the fact that fathers tend to become the primary attachment figure could be the result of
traditional gender roles, in which women are expected to be more caring and nurturing than men. Therefore,
fathers simply don’t feel they should act like that. On the other hand, it could be biological factors such as female
hormones (like oestrogen) creating higher levels of nurturing and therefore women are biologically pre-disposed to
be the primary attachment figure.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller StewartGilliganGriffin. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $4.56. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
75323 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now