Attachment – 16-mark plans
Discuss infant-caregiver interactions
A01 – attachments are emotional and reciprocal. Form through verbal
and non-verbal communications. Signs of a secure attachment, Maccoby:
wanting to be in proximity, separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, pleasure
on reunion. Attachments stronger when the care giver is sensitive to
actions/communications.
A01 – reciprocity, infants coordinate actions with caregivers like a
conversation. From birth they develop a rhythm as if they are taking
turns. Action of one person elicits a response from the other
A01 – interactional synchrony, two or more things move in a pattern.
When two people interact they tent to mirror each other’s facial and
body movements. From 2-3 weeks old infants can begin to imitate actions
from caregiver
A03 – Meltzoff and Moore, faces of child, controlled observation in which
an adult mode, displayed one of three facial expressions, following
display dummy removed and the child’s expressions were filmed, clear
association between behaviour and that of adult model, found
interactional synchrony
A03 – PBS, confirmation bias
A03 – individual differences, different attachment styles interact
differently i.e. insecure and secure etc.
A03 – Jean Piaget, reward and response training, the babies doing what
elicits a positive response from the caregiver, not intentionally copying
behaviours
A03 – real world applications, create a programme to emphasise
importance of secure attachments, leads to issues later in life, economic
issues for government
, Describe and evaluate the stages of attachment identified by Shaffer
and Emerson
A01 – Asocial stage, infant shows similar responses to objects and
peoples, from birth to two months. indiscriminate stage, infant shows a
preference for human over non-human, distinguish between people but
are comforted indiscriminately, no stranger anxiety, from 2-6 months.
A01 – specific attachments, from 7-12 months, infant show preference for
one caregiver, displaying stranger and separation anxiety, infant looks to
one person for security and protection. multiple attachments, one year
onwards, attachment behaviour displayed towards several different
people typically form in the first month after primary attachment is
formed
A03 – Glasgow babies, 60 babies visited in homes monthly for 12 months,
then once again at 18 months. shows that 65% had an initial attachment
to the mother but only 13% had only this attachment after 18 months,
shows support for the multiple attachment stage
A03 – PBS, lacks population validity, only 60 working class mothers and
babies from Glasgow, may form different attachments then those
compared with wealthier families from other countries
A03 – individual differences, Hogans temperament hypothesis, doesn’t
depend on attachment but how the child actually is
A03- multiple attachments could be more common in more collectivist
cultures compared to more individualistic western cultures which focus
more on independence
A03 – Rutter argues that all attachments are equal, Bowlby argues that
attachments biologically should be monotropic
2
Discuss infant-caregiver interactions
A01 – attachments are emotional and reciprocal. Form through verbal
and non-verbal communications. Signs of a secure attachment, Maccoby:
wanting to be in proximity, separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, pleasure
on reunion. Attachments stronger when the care giver is sensitive to
actions/communications.
A01 – reciprocity, infants coordinate actions with caregivers like a
conversation. From birth they develop a rhythm as if they are taking
turns. Action of one person elicits a response from the other
A01 – interactional synchrony, two or more things move in a pattern.
When two people interact they tent to mirror each other’s facial and
body movements. From 2-3 weeks old infants can begin to imitate actions
from caregiver
A03 – Meltzoff and Moore, faces of child, controlled observation in which
an adult mode, displayed one of three facial expressions, following
display dummy removed and the child’s expressions were filmed, clear
association between behaviour and that of adult model, found
interactional synchrony
A03 – PBS, confirmation bias
A03 – individual differences, different attachment styles interact
differently i.e. insecure and secure etc.
A03 – Jean Piaget, reward and response training, the babies doing what
elicits a positive response from the caregiver, not intentionally copying
behaviours
A03 – real world applications, create a programme to emphasise
importance of secure attachments, leads to issues later in life, economic
issues for government
, Describe and evaluate the stages of attachment identified by Shaffer
and Emerson
A01 – Asocial stage, infant shows similar responses to objects and
peoples, from birth to two months. indiscriminate stage, infant shows a
preference for human over non-human, distinguish between people but
are comforted indiscriminately, no stranger anxiety, from 2-6 months.
A01 – specific attachments, from 7-12 months, infant show preference for
one caregiver, displaying stranger and separation anxiety, infant looks to
one person for security and protection. multiple attachments, one year
onwards, attachment behaviour displayed towards several different
people typically form in the first month after primary attachment is
formed
A03 – Glasgow babies, 60 babies visited in homes monthly for 12 months,
then once again at 18 months. shows that 65% had an initial attachment
to the mother but only 13% had only this attachment after 18 months,
shows support for the multiple attachment stage
A03 – PBS, lacks population validity, only 60 working class mothers and
babies from Glasgow, may form different attachments then those
compared with wealthier families from other countries
A03 – individual differences, Hogans temperament hypothesis, doesn’t
depend on attachment but how the child actually is
A03- multiple attachments could be more common in more collectivist
cultures compared to more individualistic western cultures which focus
more on independence
A03 – Rutter argues that all attachments are equal, Bowlby argues that
attachments biologically should be monotropic
2
