A-Level Psychology: Attachment — Animal Studies and Early Development

The attachment topic begins with how attachments form — the observational work on caregiver-infant interaction, the staged model that came out of the Glasgow research, and the animal studies whose findings reshaped the whole field. This quiz covers that first half of the topic (its companion set covers theories, types and deprivation).

The interaction questions pin down the distinction exam questions consistently blur: reciprocity as turn-taking responsiveness versus interactional synchrony as rhythmic mirroring of behaviour — plus sensitive responsiveness as the caregiver's accurate reading of infant signals.

The Schaffer and Emerson questions cover the Glasgow study's findings and all four stages: the asocial stage with its undifferentiated responses, the indiscriminate stage's general sociability without stranger anxiety, the specific attachment emerging around seven months, and the rapid extension to multiple attachments — with a question on what the quality of interaction contributes. The role of the father is tested through the contemporary finding of a distinctive play-oriented contribution.

The animal studies carry the topic's theoretical weight. Lorenz's imprinting is tested for its core claims — innate, critical-period-bound, and (as Lorenz described it) irreversible — and Harlow's rhesus monkey research for its decisive finding: contact comfort, not feeding, drives attachment, with lasting social deficits following deprivation. A dedicated evaluation question covers the recognised limitations — the ethics of Harlow's procedures and the generalisation problem from monkeys to humans.

Each explanation ties the finding to the theoretical argument it supports, which is how the essay questions expect these studies to be used.

• Distinguish reciprocity from interactional synchrony precisely
• Recall Schaffer and Emerson's four stages and the Glasgow study's findings
• Describe the father's distinctive role per contemporary research
• Explain Lorenz's imprinting and Harlow's contact-comfort findings
• Evaluate the animal studies on ethical and generalisation grounds

Covers the compulsory Attachment content of A-level Psychology: caregiver-infant interaction, Schaffer's stages of attachment, the role of the father, and the animal studies of Lorenz and Harlow.