Key term
AQA A-Level Psychology 7182
Social Influence
Memory
Attachment
Topic overviewCaregiver-infant interactions: reciprocity and interactional synchronySchaffer's stages of attachmentMultiple attachments and the role of the fatherAnimal studies of attachmentExplanations of attachmentAinsworth's Strange Situation and types of attachmentBowlby's theory of maternal deprivation and effects of institutionalisationInfluence of early attachment on relationshipsCultural variations in attachment
Approaches in Psychology
Biopsychology
Topic overviewDivisions of the nervous systemStructure and function of neurons and synaptic transmissionThe endocrine systemThe fight or flight responseWays of studying the brainLocalisation of function and hemispheric lateralisationPlasticity and functional recovery of the brain after traumaBiological rhythms: circadian, infradian and ultradian
Clinical Psychology and Mental Health
Research Methods
Scientific Processes
Topic overviewAims and hypothesesSamplingPilot studiesExperimental designsObservational designQuestionnaire construction and design of interviewsVariablesControlDemand characteristics and investigator effectsEthicsPeer reviewImplications of psychological research for the economyReliabilityValidityFeatures of scienceReporting psychological investigations
Quantitative and Qualitative Data
Topic overviewQuantitative and qualitative data; the distinction between qualitative and quantitative data collection techniquesPrimary and secondary data, including meta-analysisDescriptive statistics: measures of central tendency and measures of dispersionPresentation and display of quantitative data: graphs, tables, scattergrams, bar chartsDistributions: normal and skewed distributionsIntroduction to statistical testing; the sign test
Data Handling and Analysis
Inferential Testing
Issues and Debates in Psychology
RelationshipsOption 1
GenderOption 1
Cognition and DevelopmentOption 1
SchizophreniaOption 2
Eating BehaviourOption 2
StressOption 2
AggressionOption 3
Forensic PsychologyOption 3
AddictionOption 3
Explanations for Nicotine AddictionOption 3
Attachment
- 9 subtopics
- 41 things to know
- Paper 1
What Attachment covers
Attachment is the third topic of Paper 1. It covers how caregiver and infant interact, how attachment forms and how it is measured, what animal studies contributed, the effects of deprivation and institutionalisation, and how early attachment shapes later relationships.
The 9 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Caregiver-infant interactions: reciprocity and interactional synchronyReciprocity and interactional synchrony as the two forms of early caregiver-infant interaction, with Meltzoff and Moore's observations of imitation in very young babies.Open →
- Schaffer's stages of attachmentSchaffer and Emerson's Glasgow study and the four stages of attachment it identified, asocial, indiscriminate, specific and multiple, with who becomes the primary attachment figure and the study's strengths and limitations.Open →
- Multiple attachments and the role of the fatherMultiple attachments and the father's role: Schaffer and Emerson's figures, Grossmann's and Field's research, fathers as primary caregivers, MacCallum and Golombok's findings, and the challenge multiple attachments pose to monotropy.Open →
- Animal studies of attachmentLorenz's work on imprinting in greylag geese and Harlow's surrogate mother experiments with rhesus monkeys, including the lasting effects of early deprivation.Open →
- Explanations of attachmentLearning theory's account of attachment through classical and operant conditioning, the cupboard love explanation, and the findings that undermine it.Open →
- Ainsworth's Strange Situation and types of attachmentThe Strange Situation procedure and the attachment types it identifies: secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant.Open →
- Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation and effects of institutionalisationBowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis and the 44 Thieves study, with the effects of institutionalisation and the findings of the Romanian adoptee research.Open →
- Influence of early attachment on relationshipsThe internal working model, how secure and insecure early attachments show up in later friendships and adult romantic relationships, and Hazan and Shaver's Love Quiz.Open →
- Cultural variations in attachmentVan Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg's study of attachment across cultures, the German and Japanese findings, and the limits of applying the Strange Situation outside the culture it was designed in.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
What is interactional synchrony?
Study
What did Meltzoff and Moore observe in very young babies?
Evaluation
Evaluate research into caregiver-infant interactions.
Process
Name Schaffer's four stages of attachment in order.
Process
What characterises the specific attachment stage?
Process
Describe the sample and design of Schaffer and Emerson's study of attachment.
Process
By what age had most babies in Schaffer and Emerson's study formed an attachment to their father?
Key term
What are multiple attachments?
Process
What distinctive role do fathers often play in a child's development?
Key term
What is imprinting, as studied by Lorenz in greylag geese?
Study
How did Lorenz set up his goose egg experiment?
Study
Describe Harlow's surrogate mother study with rhesus monkeys.
Study
What lasting effects did early deprivation have on Harlow's monkeys?
Evaluation
Give two criticisms of animal studies of attachment.
Process
How does classical conditioning explain the formation of attachment?
Process
How does operant conditioning account for attachment formation?
Who and when
What is the 'cupboard love' explanation of attachment?
Evaluation
Give two findings that undermine learning theory explanations of attachment.
Who and when
What does monotropy mean in Bowlby's theory?
Evaluation
Give two criticisms of Bowlby's monotropic theory.
Study
Describe the Strange Situation procedure.
Key term
What characterises secure attachment in the Strange Situation?
Key term
What characterises insecure-avoidant attachment?
Key term
What characterises insecure-resistant attachment?
Who and when
According to Ainsworth, what determines an infant's attachment type?
Evaluation
Give two limitations of the Strange Situation.
Evaluation
Give two strengths of the Strange Situation.
Who and when
What did Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis claim?
Study
What did Bowlby's 44 Thieves study find?
Key term
What effects does institutionalisation have on children?
Study
What did the Romanian adoptees study led by Rutter find?
Evaluation
Give two criticisms of Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis.
Key term
What is the internal working model?
Key term
How does a secure early attachment show in later relationships?
Key term
How do insecure attachment types show in adult romantic relationships?
Study
Describe Hazan and Shaver's Love Quiz study.
Evaluation
Give two limitations of research linking early attachment to later relationships.
Study
Describe van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg's study of cultural variations.
Study
What did German and Japanese samples show in Strange Situation studies?
Evaluation
Give one limitation of using the Strange Situation across cultures.
Take Attachment further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Deprivation vs Privation
Deprivation: the loss of an emotional bond that had already been formed. Privation: never having formed an emotional bond with anyone at all.
Reciprocity vs Interactional synchrony
Reciprocity: a turn-taking exchange where each partner answers the other's signal. Interactional synchrony: mirrored actions and emotions performed at the same moment.
Insecure-avoidant attachment vs Insecure-resistant attachment
Insecure-avoidant attachment: little distress at separation and indifference when the caregiver returns. Insecure-resistant attachment: extreme distress and angry, unsettled behaviour when the caregiver returns.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is reciprocity in caregiver-infant interactions?
Model answer
A two-way, mutual process in which the caregiver and infant respond to and elicit responses from each other.
- 2
How does reciprocity resemble a conversation?
Model answer
Each responds to the other's signals and takes turns to elicit a response, like a 'dance'.
- 3
What is interactional synchrony?
Model answer
When the caregiver and infant mirror each other's actions and emotions in a coordinated, simultaneous way.
- 4
How does interactional synchrony differ from reciprocity?
Model answer
Synchrony involves simultaneous, mirrored actions, whereas reciprocity involves turn-taking responses.
- 5
What did Meltzoff and Moore find about interactional synchrony?
Model answer
Infants as young as two to three weeks appeared to imitate adults' facial expressions and gestures.
- 6
Why are caregiver-infant interactions thought to be important?
Model answer
Well-coordinated interactions are believed to lay the foundation for the developing attachment bond.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Attachment revision questions
- What does Attachment cover in AQA A-Level Psychology?
- 9 subtopics: caregiver-infant interactions: reciprocity and interactional synchrony, schaffer's stages of attachment, multiple attachments and the role of the father, animal studies of attachment, explanations of attachment, ainsworth's strange situation and types of attachment, bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation and effects of institutionalisation, influence of early attachment on relationships and cultural variations in attachment. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Attachment organised?
- By the AQA 7182 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Attachment, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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