AQA Psychology A-level: Attachment Notes

Part 1: Caregiver-infant Interactions in Humans

• Attachment: Strong reciprocal emotional bond between infant and caregiver.
• Reciprocity: Mutual bonding required; illustrated by Brazleton et al.'s study showing infants can mimic caregivers' actions.
• Interactional Synchrony: Infant and caregiver synchronize their interactions, as shown by Condon & Sander.
• Observational Studies: Controlled observations establish inter-rater reliability, but meaningful interpretation of infants' actions is debatable (Bremner).

Part 2: Stages of Attachment by Schaffer

• Study: 60 babies from Glasgow, longitudinal study over 18 months.
• Findings:
  • Sensitive responsiveness predicted stronger attachments.
  • Stages of Attachment:
    • Asocial Stage (0-6 weeks)
    • Indiscriminate Attachments (6 weeks - 6 months)
    • Specific Attachment (7 months +)
    • Multiple Attachments (10/11 months +)
• Evaluation: Lacks population and internal validity; self-report bias potential.

Part 3: The Role of the Father

• Fathers often secondary attachment; important but generally not primary.
• Tiffany Field: Father can be primary caregiver; attentiveness matters.
• Lacks consensus on father's influence; societal and biological roles may constrain.

Part 4: Animal Studies of Attachment

• Lorenz: Imprinting in geese; critical period crucial.
• Harlow: Contact comfort in monkeys more vital than food for attachment development.
  • Practical implications for animal care.
  • Ethical considerations noted.

Part 5: Explanations of Attachment

Learning Theory

• Classical & Operant Conditioning: Attachments formed through association with food and response reinforcement.
• Contradicted by studies emphasizing contact comfort (Harlow) and synchrony (Brazleton).

Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory

• ASCMI: Adaptive, Social releasers, Critical period, Monotropy, Internal working model.
• Internal Working Model: Influences future relationships; criticized for being socially sensitive and culturally limited.

Part 6: Ainsworth’s Strange Situation

• Controlled observation for assessing attachment security.
• Types of Attachments:
  • Secure
  • Insecure Resistant
  • Insecure Avoidant
• Evaluation: Ethical concerns, cultural biases, and issues of ecological validity.

Part 7: Cultural Variations in Attachment

• Van Izjendoorn & Kronenberg: Meta-analysis of global studies on attachment patterns.
• Cultural differences impactful; methodology may lack ecological validity.

Part 8: Bowlby’s Theory of Maternal Deprivation

• Essential for healthy development; deprivation linked to affectionless psychopathy.
• Criticized for methodological issues and determinism.

Part 9: Effects of Institutionalisation

• Hodges and Tizard: Early privation affects emotional development.
• Rutter’s Romanian Orphans: Importance of early adoption; disinhibited attachment noted.
• Evaluation: Confounding variables in studies; long-term effects uncertain.

Part 10: Influence of Early Attachment

• Early attachments impact future relationships and parenting styles.
• Bailey et al.: Found continuity in attachment styles across generations.
• Criticism: Reductionist and deterministic; counterexamples exist.