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Attachment revision notes
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Includes the whole topic on Attachment using the AQA Psychology A level Revision Guide. Includes both AO1 and AO3. All psychologists names are highlighted.
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Attachment:Caregiver interactions: The greater the caregiver interaction the better future relationships they
would go on to have.
Reciprocity is turn taking. When the infant/caregiver elicits a response, they respond to each
other. Alert phases. It is like a dance.
Interactional synchrony is when they perform the same expressions simultaneously at the same
time. Meltzoff and Moore. Controlled observation asking adults to display 3 facial expressions
whilst being filmed and judged by multiple observers. He found high inter-rater reliability of
=0.92 and an association between caregiver interaction and interactional synchrony. He also
believed that these reactions of babies are innate.
Evaluation:
Well controlled observation. It was a controlled observation e.g. the reactions were filmed. This
meant that extraneous variables were controlled. It also meant that there was high inter-rater
reliability because it was observed by multiple judges. The babies also didn’t know that they
were being recorded, which means that their behaviour was natural as there were no demand
characteristics. Therefore, this research has high internal validity
The results may be inaccurate. As the babies were only two weeks old, we don't know if they
were moving generally or if it was in response to the adult displaying the expressions. It is also
hard to determine the meanings of the baby's reaction. For example, sticking their tongue out
may mean they want food. Therefore, we can't be sure if the result truly displays interactional
synchrony.
One strength is there is real world value. Crotwell found that 10 minutes of Parent-Child
interaction therapy in 20 low-income mothers with their pre-school child can help improve
interactional synchrony. However, we could argue that this socially sensitive research is socially
sensitive as mothers have to go back to work after they have a child which means that there is a
delay in the development of the child. Thís means that its practical value may be outweighed by
its negative social consequence.
Another limitation is that they are meaningless. Feldman said that caregiver interaction has no
effect on future outcomes and the development of a child. However, Isabella et al. stated that
developing interactional synchrony can help develop a better-quality attachment later in life.
Therefore, this means caregiver interactions can help the development of a child.
Stages of attachment:
, Schaffer and Emerson: Asocial – few weeks old - doesn't develop any attachments. Having
similar preferences to objects and humans, can distinguish between them. Indiscrimination – 2-
7 months - develops a preference for humans over objects. No stranger and separation anxiety
displayed. Specifically – from 7 months – develop an attachment to their primary caregiver
which is normally the mother. High stranger and separation anxiety. Multiple - from 1 year –
develop more attachments to other family members.
Study. 60 Glasgow babies in working class families. Longitudinal study over 18 months. Asked
mothers to investigate strangers and separation anxiety in everyday situations. He then
developed the stages of attachment and said that this is how babies develop attachments. The
specific attachment tended to be the person who engaged and interacted more with the baby.
Evaluation:
As it was a self-study, mothers may have changed their answers in accordance with what they
think is desirable which means that there is social desirability bias. For example, they might not
have remembered when the baby shows anxiety. This means that even if the babies'
behaviours were natural, they might not have been accurate.
For the asocial stage it is hard to determine the babies' behaviours which means that it is hard
for mothers to record their anxiety levels as they are immobile. This means that the babies may
be seen as social but because of flawed methods they are seen as asocial.
Real world application. After babies go through all the stages of attachments mothers can
determine whether they want to send their child to day care as they will be with an unfamiliar
adult so will be able to have some experience to be able to form an attachment with their pre-
school teacher.
Another limitation is that there may be cultural bias. As the sample were babies from working
class families in Glasgow, child rearing practices will be different in other cultures so this
research lacks generalisability. It was also a small sample of 60 babies which is not
representative of the whole world.
Role of the father:
Shaffer and Emerson found that only 3% of fathers were the primary caregiver. 27% of fathers
were secondary caregivers. 75% of fathers developed an attachment with their child after 18
months.
Grossman et al carried out a longitudinal study on how a child's attachment to parents affects
their development as a child. He found that mothers play a significant role in a child’s
development, but fathers had no influence in it. However, he later found that fathers play a
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