Summary
Summary AQA A Level Psychology - Chapter 3: Attachment
- Institution
- AQA
Study Guide for Chapter 3 of the AQA Psychology For A Level and AS Level Textbook. Summary of Chapter 3 + additional class notes included
[Show more]
Connected book
Book Title:
Author(s):
- Edition:
- ISBN:
- Edition:
Seller
Follow
Content preview
A Level Psychology Attachment – AQA,What is attachment?
• Close two-way emotional bond -> essential for emotional security. Takes a few months
to develop for humans
• Infants display the following behaviours
o Proximity: physically close
o Separation distress: distress when away
o Secure base behaviour: after separation, keep in regular contact with the
attachment figure
Caregiver-infant interactions in humans
Reciprocity
• Two-way emotional connection with infant and primary caregiver (how they interact)
• Both infant and mother respond to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from
the other
• Influences physical, neurological, cognitive + psychological development
• Shapes how child relates to world, learning + relationships
• Examples of reciprocity:
o Reacting + responding to signals of infant (smiling)
o Negative reciprocal processes not an advantage to child’s development
• Study: Tronick (1978)
o Mother holds a still face in front of baby
o Baby becomes agitated by failed attempts
o Importance of reciprocity for child’s wellbeing
Interactional synchrony
• Synchrony = “temporal co-ordination of micro level social behaviour”
o Social communication where two people are ‘synchronised’ in their actions
• Interactional synchrony = Mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of
the other and do it in a synchronised way
• High levels of synchrony = better quality mother infant attachment
o 3 months -> interactions are frequent
• Study: Meltzoff + Moore (1977)
o Adult displayed three facial expressions
o Child’s reaction was filmed and identified by independent observers
o Association found between adult’s gesture and baby’s response
o Important for mother + infant bonding
Attachment figures
• Schaffer and Emerson (1964):
, o First formed attachment to the mother
o 75% infants had secondary attachment to father
• Tiffany Field (1978):
o 4-month-old baby's interaction with caregiver
o Father who was more nurturing had built on attachment
• Grossman (2002): longitudinal study:
o Father attachments less important
o Quality of father’s play with infants was related to the quality of adolescent
attachments
o Role = less to do with nurturing
• Depends on level of response, not gender
Evaluation
• ✅ Controlled observation
o Filmed from multiple angles
o Fine details recorded + analysed
o Infant behaviour does not change in response to observation
o Good validity + replicability
• ❎ It is difficult to know what is happening when observing infants:
o Difficult to observe what is taking place from infant’s perspective -> conscious or
deliberate?
o Mother-infant bond can have special meaning
• ❎ Observations don’t tell us the reason of synchrony and reciprocity
o Feldman (2012): describe behaviours but not useful for telling is their purpose
• ❎ Socially sensitive research
o Suggests children can be disadvantaged by child-rearing practices
o Mothers return to work restrict opportunities for achieving interactional
synchrony
• ❎ Traditional gender roles
o Suggests women nurture more than men
• ❎ Inconsistent findings on fathers
o Researching different questions on primary and secondary attachment
• ➖ Maccallum and Golombok (2004):
o Children in same-sex families are not different than heterosexual families
o Suggests secondary attachment is not important
Stages of attachment: Schaffer + Emerson (1964)
• Aim:
o What age formation of attachment develop. Lead to proposals that there are 4
stages of attachment
• Method:
o 60 babies (31 male, 29 female)
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 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 AKhalifa474. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £2.99. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
53340 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 14 years now