Summary
Summary AQA A level Psychology Attachment notes
- Course
- Institution
A detailed summary of the A level psychology attachment topic formatted in question and answer style to support your revision.
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
umaimahbhuta
Content preview
🧠P1: attachment
caregiver- infant interactions
define attachment
-an emotional tie formed between two people or things that endures
over time
-they seek to maintain a certain degree of proximity or contact
what is interactional synchrony?
-caregiver and infant interact in a way where their actions and emotions
mirror each other
outline the investigation that looked at when synchrony begins
-Meltzoff and Moore (1977) observed interactional synchrony in babies
as young as 2 weeks
-an adult displayed a facial expression or a gesture and the babys
response was filmed and labelled by independent observers
-babies actions were more likely to mirror those of the adult than
chance would predict
outline the investigation which looked at the importance of synchrony
for attachment
-Isabella et al (1989) observed 39 mothers and babies together and
assessed the degree of synchrony and quality of mother-baby
attachment
-high levels of synchrony= better quality of mother-baby attachment
what is reciprocity?
-involves signalling that they are ready for interaction
-take turns in responding in different ways= not mirrored
describe alert phases and research to do with them
P1: attachment 1
, -babies have periodic phases where they signal for an interaction e.g.
eye contact
-mothers typically pick up on these signals 2/3 of the time (Feldman
and Eidelman) 2007
-from 3 months this interaction becomes increasingly frequent
describe active involvement and research to do with this
-typically, babies are portrayed as passive but the caregiver and baby
play an active role
-both initiate interactions and appear to take turns in doing so
-Brazelton et al (1975) describes this as a dance because each partner
takes a turn to respond
explain one strength of caregiver infant interactions
they use well controlled procedures with both mother and infant
being filmed
-ensures that very fine details can be recorded and analysed frame
by frame
-babies also dont know that theyre behaviour is being observed so
they dont change their behaviour in response to being observed =
high internal validity
-also replicable to test consistency of findings
explain two weaknesses of caregiver infant interactions
difficult to know what they mean by these interactions
-e.g. you might observe hand movements or changes in expression
but its difficult to know if this imitation of adult signals is deliberate
or not
-means we cannot really know for certain that behaviours seen in
caregiver infant interaction have a special meaning
-makes it more likely for observers to portray observer bias as they
over interpret the baby’s actions in a way that fits their expectations
could be considered unethical as its socially sensitive
-Isabella et al (1989) found that high levels of synchrony were
associated with better quality mother infant interactions
P1: attachment 2
, -suggests that mothers should not return to work so soon as they
may be considered a ‘bad mother’ or made to feel guilty for
returning to work
-therefore findings research are less likely to be believed by society
stages of attachment
what did Schaffer and Emerson (1964) investigate?
-how common patterns in attachment behaviours displayed by infants
could be separated into age related stages
method?
-60 babies from skilled, working class families (29f, 31m) , from same
area of glasgow
-researchers visited babies and mums every month for a year and again
at 18 months- longitudinal study
-studied babies for formation of early infant-adult attachments and
strength of these
-measured babies reaction to unfamiliar people and adults leaving room
to measure stranger and separation anxiety
results?
-between 7-9 months 50% of babies showed signs of separation
anxiety usually to mum
-stronger attachment tended to be towards caregiver who interacted
most with infant signals= sensitiveness responsiveness
-by approx 10 months old, 80% of babies formed a specific attachment
and 30% displayed multiple attachments
conclusions?
-pattern of attachment is common to all infants
-attachments are made with those who are most sensitive to infant not
those who spend most time with them
-multiple attachments are normal and have similar quantity
explain 2 strengths of the above study
good external validity
P1: attachment 3
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 umaimahbhuta. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $9.79. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
79271 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now