Full revision notes for the topic of attachment as part of AQA Psychology A Level. These notes use the specification points and cover all the necessary AO1 and AO3 in bullet point form. I just used these notes for revision and they got me an A* in psychology A Level.
1. Caregiver-infant interactions in humans: reciprocity and interactional synchrony. Stages of
attachment identified by Schaffer. Multiple attachments and the role of the father.
2. Animal studies of attachment: Lorenz and Harlow.
3. Explanations of attachment: learning theory and Bowlby’s monotropic theory. The concepts
of a critical period and an internal working model.
4. Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’. Types of attachment: secure, insecure-avoidant and
insecure-resistant. Cultural variations in attachment, including van Ijzendoorn.
5. Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation. Romanian orphan studies: effects of
institutionalisation.
6. The influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships, including the role of
an internal working model.
1. Caregiver-infant interactions in humans: reciprocity and interactional synchrony. Stages of
attachment identified by Schaffer. Multiple attachments and the role of the father.
AO1 (separate flashcard for each bullet point).
Reciprocity: responding to the action of another with a similar action, where the actions of
one partner elicit a response form the other partner
Interactional synchrony: when two people interact they tend to mirror what the other is
doing in terms of facial and body movements. Includes imitating emotions as well as
behaviours.
- Meltzoff + Moore found evidence of interactional synchrony in babies as young as 3
days old, suggesting this type of imitative response is likely innate rather than learned.
Attachment: an emotional bond between two people. Two-way process that endures over
time. It leads to certain behaviours such as clinging + proximity seeking, and serves the
function of protecting an infant.
Schaffer’s stages of attachment:
1) Asocial (0-2 months) – observable behaviour towards humans +
objects = similar. Although, baby shows preference for the company
of familiar people – form basis of later attachments.
2) Indiscriminate (2-7 months) – show clear preference for being with
humans over inanimate objects + prefer the company of familiar
people. BUT usually accept comfort from anyone. Don’t tend to
show stranger anxiety or separation anxiety.
3) Specific (7-9 months) – show stranger + separation anxiety. Specific
attachment with primary attachment figure.
4) Multiple (10+ months) – secondary attachments formed. Schaffer +
Emerson observed 29% of the children formed secondary
attachments within a month of forming a primary attachment.
Schaffer + Emerson study – 60 Glasgow babies from working class.
- Visited babies + mothers in homes every month of first year + at 18 months, asking
mothers questions to measure attachment – kind of protest when leaving the room +
response to unfamiliar people.
- Most – primary attachment = mother, very few = father + just over a quarter formed
‘joint attachments’.
, - Conclusion: attachment behaviours develop in stages (findings caused development of
4 stages) + are loosely linked to age.
Role of the father – Schaffer + Emerson found father far less likely to be primary attachment
figures.
- Biological reasons (e.g., female hormone oestrogen underlies care-giving behaviour).
- More likely cultural expectations + sex stereotypes that inhibit sensitivity.
- Frodi – no difference in the physiological responses of males + females to an infant
crying.
- Secondary attachment – research suggests fathers = more playful + physically active
than nurturing mother so useful/ different role.
AO3 – reciprocity + interactional synchrony
Failure to replicate.
- Koepke et al did not find the same evidence of interactional synchrony in very young
infants. Meltzoff + Moore countered this by suggesting Koepke’s study wasn’t very well
controlled which may account for differences.
Problems with testing infant behaviour.
- Infants’ mouths tend to be in constant movement so it’s difficult to distinguish
between general activity and specific behaviours.
- Meltzoff + Moore tried to overcome this by using an observer with no knowledge of
behaviour being imitated to make judgements. Benefits of filmed behaviour + multiple
observers – inter-rater reliability.
Developmental importance.
- Simply observing behaviour doesn’t explain developmental importance – difficult to
establish from observational research alone that reciprocity and interactional
synchrony are important for a child’s development.
- BUT Isabella et al – successful interactional synchrony predicted the development of a
secure attachment.
AO3 – stages of attachment
Real world application
- Practical application in day care – in the asocial + indiscriminate stages, day care is
likely to be straightforward as babies can be comforted by any skilled adult.
- But suggests starting day care with an unfamiliar adult may be difficult in the specific
stage so parents’ use of day care can be planned using Schaffer + Emerson’s stages.
Validity.
- Self-reports from mothers – social desirability bias, subjective measures, etc.
- All working class + from Glasgow.
- Although situations = ordinary activities so highly likely ppts behaved naturally.
AO3 – role of the father
Conflicting evidence
- Grossmann et al suggested that fathers as secondary attachment figures have an
important + distinct role in their children’s development, involving play + stimulation.
- But if this were the case, we’d expect children growing up in single-mother or lesbian-
parent families would develop differently from children in nuclear, heterosexual
families but studies e.g., McCallum + Golombok consistently show this isn’t the case.
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