Summary
Summary AQA Psychology Study Guide
- Module
- Attachment
- Institution
- AQA
AQA A level psych study guide: Includes: definitions, studies, AO1 and AO3 content, and essay plans
[Show more]
Content preview
ATTACHMENTCaregiver-infant interactions in humans: reciprocity and interactional
synchrony.
Reciprocity: The word reciprocal means two-way, or something mutual. The infant
and caregiver are both active contributors in the interaction and are responding to
each other.
Interactional synchrony: The reciprocal interactions between infant and caregiver
are somewhat synchronised. For example, you might pull a funny face, the baby
laughs, and then you laugh back. These kinds of interactions are rhythmic and co-
ordinated, with both infant and caregiver ‘taking turns’ in a similar way to how adults
take turns to speak in conversations.
Stages of attachment identified by Schaffer. Multiple attachments and the role
of the father.
Pre attachment: From a very early stage, babies enjoy the company of other people
and prefer humans over objects and other non-human things. However, the baby is
not able to tell the difference between different human faces.
Indiscriminate attachment: After about 3 months, the baby can tell the difference
between different human faces and starts to prefer familiar ones. However, the baby
does not mind unfamiliar faces and will allow a stranger to handle them without
getting upset.
Specific attachment: From about 7 or 8 months, the baby’s attachment to its
primary caregiver (e.g. its mother) is particularly strong. The baby demonstrates
separation anxiety (distress from being away from its primary caregiver) and a fear of
strangers.
Multiple attachments: After around 9 or 10 months, the infant will begin forming
attachments to other familiar faces, such as grandparents and other children.
However, the strongest emotional attachment is with the primary caregiver (usually
the mother).
Explanations of attachment: learning theory and Bowlby’s monotropic theory.
The concepts of a critical period and an internal working model.
Classical conditioning: Occurs when a naturally pleasurable stimulus (in this case,
feeding) becomes associated with a neutral stimulus (in this case, the caregiver).
Because the pleasurable stimulus (feeding) occurs at the same time as the neutral
stimulus (the caregiver’s presence), the infant eventually learns to associate the
caregiver with pleasure even without food.
Operant conditioning: For example, reducing the unpleasant feeling of hunger
may negatively reinforce attachment towards the caregiver.
Critical period: According to Bowlby’s theory, there is a critical period within which
an infant can develop attachments. After this period, the infant will have difficulty
forming attachments at all. For most infants, this critical period is 12 months after
birth
,Internal working model: Bowlby’s theory says that an infant’s monotropic (primary)
attachment forms a template for all relationships that follow. This template is known
as the internal working model and is a cognitive framework through which the
individual understands themself and their expectations for relationships to other
people. The internal working model also creates some consistency between the
emotional experiences of early life and the emotional experiences of later
relationships.
Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’. Types of attachment: secure, insecure-
avoidant and insecure-resistant
Secure attachment: Stranger anxiety: The infant is happy and plays as normal
when both the mother and stranger are present, but becomes distressed when the
mother leaves them alone with the stranger.
Separation anxiety: The infant becomes distressed when the mother leaves.
Reunion behaviour: The infant is calmed and becomes happy again once reunited
with the mother.
Exploration behaviour: The infant uses the mothers as a ‘base’ from which to safely
explore the room and return to.
Insecure avoidant: Stranger anxiety: The infant does not become distressed when
left alone with the stranger and carries on playing as normal.
Separation anxiety: The infant does not become distressed when the mother leaves.
Reunion behaviour: The infant carries on playing and is indifferent when the mother
returns.
Exploration behaviour: The infant explores its environment, but does not treat the
mother as the base from which it explores and returns to.
Insecure resistant: Stranger anxiety: The infant avoids the stranger even when the
mother is also present.
Separation anxiety: The infant becomes distressed when the mother leaves.
Reunion behaviour: The infant seeks the mother when she returns, but resists direct
contact (e.g. pushing her away)
Exploration behaviour: The infant is much less likely to explore its environment.
Romanian orphan studies: effects of institutionalisation.
Privation: Privation is when an infant never forms an attachment.
Institutionalisation: It may occur when an infant is raised away from their parents in
an institution such as an orphanage or a children’s home. The psychological and
behavioural effects of being raised in such institutions are known as
institutionalisation.
, ATTACHMENT
Caregiver-infant interactions in humans: reciprocity and interactional
synchrony
AO1: CAREGIVER INTERACTIONS
Reciprocity occurs between infants and carers resulting in mutual behaviour where
both parties are able to generate a response from one another almost like a
conversation e.g smiling by the parent results in smiling by the baby. Such
interactions between the infant and carer facilitate and strengthen the attachment
bond.
Interactional synchrony involves infants imitating specific hand and facial gestures
from an adult model and broadly refers to a finely tuned coordination of behaviours
between the child and parent during speaking and listening. Infants and parents are
seen to develop a shared sense of timing and rhythm which develops into a flow of
mutual behaviours
AO3: CAREGIVER INTERACTIONS.
Tronick et al. (1979) found that when mothers who had been engaged in
dialogue with their babies were asked to stop moving and remain static, the
babies would become puzzled and distressed when their smiles were unable
to provoke a reciprocal response. This highlights how babies engage and
anticipate reciprocal responses to their own behaviour.
Meltzoff & Moore (1983) demonstrated that interactional synchrony occurred
with infants imitating facial expressions, tongue protrusions and mouth
openings from an adult model when only three days old. This suggests the
behaviour was innate rather than learned.
One major issue into observing caregiver-infant interactions is testing infant
behaviour is incredibly difficult as their facial expressions are almost
continuously changing.
Meltzoff & Moore’s study also lacks reliability as successive attempts to
replicate the findings have failed.
One practical application for such findings is mothers can be placed in the
same rooms with their children instantly so they can begin to form attachment
bonds unlike previous practice where they were kept separate.
Interactional synchrony does not have cross-cultural support which weakens
the idea that it is innate and necessary for attachment as it is not universal. Le
Vine et al (1994) found that Kenyan mothers had little interactions with their
infants yet a high proportion of them were still classed as securely attached.
Stages of attachment identified by Schaffer
AO1: ATTACHMENT STAGES
There are proposed to be 4 stages of attachment according to Schaffer:
Stage 1: Indiscriminate attachments: From birth until approximately the 2-month
stage, infants produce similar responses to all objects regardless of whether they are
inanimate objects or not. Towards the end of this stage, they may begin to show a
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 howesaskia. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £5.49. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
66184 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 15 years now