Attachment | AQA A-Level Psychology (7182)
Attachment
- 191 questions
- 9 subtopics
- Paper 1: Introductory topics in psychology
- Paper 1
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.
Sample questions from Attachment
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Caregiver-infant interactions: reciprocity and interactional synchrony
How does interactional synchrony differ from reciprocity?
Show the answer
Synchrony involves simultaneous, mirrored actions, whereas reciprocity involves turn-taking responses. -
Schaffer's stages of attachment
What characterises the indiscriminate attachment stage?
Show the answer
From about two to seven months the baby prefers people to objects and recognises familiar adults, but accepts comfort from anyone and shows no separation or stranger anxiety. -
Multiple attachments and the role of the father
What did Grossmann et al. find about the role of the father?
Show the answer
In a longitudinal study, the quality of infants' attachment to fathers did not predict their attachments in adolescence, but the quality of fathers' play did, suggesting fathers' role is more about play and stimulation than nurturing. -
Animal studies of attachment
What does Lorenz's imprinting research suggest about the basis of attachment?
Show the answer
That attachment has a biological basis and is not solely learned -
Explanations of attachment
Why might learning theorists describe the caregiver as a 'secondary reinforcer'?
Show the answer
Because the caregiver becomes associated with the primary reinforcer (food) and thus acquires reinforcing properties themselves. -
Ainsworth's Strange Situation and types of attachment
What is separation anxiety in the context of the Strange Situation?
Show the answer
The infant's distress when the caregiver leaves the room. -
Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation and effects of institutionalisation
How did Bowlby link maternal deprivation to depression?
Show the answer
He proposed that depression is one of the consequences of maternal deprivation during the critical period. -
Influence of early attachment on relationships
What protective strategy do insecure-avoidant individuals commonly adopt?
Show the answer
Self-reliance as a protective strategy.
The 9 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Caregiver-infant interactions: reciprocity and interactional synchrony | Reciprocity and interactional synchrony as the two forms of early caregiver-infant interaction, with Meltzoff and Moore's observations of imitation in very young babies. | 10 |
| Schaffer's stages of attachment | Schaffer 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. | 12 |
| Multiple attachments and the role of the father | Multiple 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. | 11 |
| Animal studies of attachment | Lorenz's work on imprinting in greylag geese and Harlow's surrogate mother experiments with rhesus monkeys, including the lasting effects of early deprivation. | 24 |
| Explanations of attachment | Learning theory's account of attachment through classical and operant conditioning, the cupboard love explanation, and the findings that undermine it. | 29 |
| Ainsworth's Strange Situation and types of attachment | The Strange Situation procedure and the attachment types it identifies: secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant. | 34 |
| Bowlby's theory of maternal deprivation and effects of institutionalisation | Bowlby's maternal deprivation hypothesis and the 44 Thieves study, with the effects of institutionalisation and the findings of the Romanian adoptee research. | 30 |
| Influence of early attachment on relationships | The 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. | 31 |
| Cultural variations in attachment | Van 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. | 10 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
AQA A-Level Psychology Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 2,999 questions with their answers.