AQA A-Level Psychology
AO3 Points: Attachment - Paper 1
Caregiver-Infant + -
Interactions
Practical applications, CROTWELL CA: socially sensitive
PCIT - Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for 10 mins improved
interactional synchrony in 20 low-income mothers and their
pre-school children
CA: ISABELLA et al. Don’t know its developmental importance
30 mothers and babies, a high level of interactional synchrony was a FELDMAN, says ideas like interactional synchrony simply give
predictor of good later attachments names to processes, don’t reveal their developmental importance
Can’t tell from observational studies alone
Filmed in a lab - controlled CA: hard to interpret true meaning
Minimise distractions, record behaviour - won’t miss key behaviours, Babies, especially 2-3wk old ones (Meltzoff and Moore) are very
can analyse later uncoordinated
Meltzoff and Moore - independent observers, better reliability, can Subtle expressions, hard to know what is actually happening,
establish inter-rater reliability whether movements are intended or not
Babies act natural because they don’t know they are being filmed Doesn’t actually reveal much
Attachment + -
Stages -
Schaffer and
Emerson
Good external validity CA: mothers as observers
Babies assessed in own homes, by mothers, reporting back to May be biased
researchers - behaving naturally, not distracted by researchers May not pick up on all their child’s anxiety or misremember it
conducting this = ecological validity
Practical applications for daycare Hard to observe babies in the asocial stage
Send child to daycare in pre-social or diffuse attachment stages, Fairly immobile, poor coordination, hard to see their anxiety, they
which is easier than in discriminate or multiple attachment stages might be attached, we just don’t know due to flawed observation
methods
Limited generalisability
, Glasgow, 1960’s, all working class, unique cultural and historical
context, can’t generalise, not representative of entire target
population
Role of Fathers + -
Different research question
Some researchers like GROSSMANN saw roles as distinctive and
wanted to see if fathers make unique contributions to development +
understand their role as SAFs
Whereas FIELD investigated how fathers can be PAFs if given the
chance + can be more maternal
Hard to make conclusions as research doesn’t answer the same
question
CA: fathers do take on a distinctive role in 2 parent heterosexual If the role is distinctive, why aren’t children different if raised
families but parents in single-mother and lesbian families adopt and without a father?
take on the role played by the father Grossmann: fathers have a distinctive role in play and stimulation,
not nurturing. Children without fathers would be expected to be
different.
McCALLUM and GOLOMBOK, found children in same-sex or
single-parent families no different to kids in 2 parent heterosexual
families
Can ease parental anxiety No control over other influences
Research showing fathers can also be PAF, involved in nurturing, Culture, father’s beliefs, age, marital intimacy, amount of time away
can reassure parents that the mother doesn’t need to stay at home, from home can affect child’s emotional development as well
but father can = these aren’t always controlled for in research
+ Lesbian + single-parents can be reassured this won’t affect their
children
Animal Studies + -
Lorenz’s Geese Research support - REGOLIN Sexual imprinting isn’t permanent - GUITON
Chicks shown a combo of moving objects when born, they followed Imprinted chicks on yellow washing up gloves
the first moving shape they saw most closely Found sexual imprinting - later tried to mate with rubber gloves
But also showed mating behaviour towards other chickens too
Both Can’t generalise - Mammalian attachment is more complex, there
are more emotional aspects + can form attachment at any time
