PAST PAPERS: ATTACHMENT: AQA A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY RESOURCES

PSYCHOLOGY AQA A LEVEL UNIT 1: 7182/1

Full model answers for all of these questions are available here

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THE SYLLABUS

EARLY ATTACHMENT IN INFANTS

• Animal studies of attachment: Lorenz and Harlow
• Caregiver-infant interactions in humans: reciprocity and interactional synchrony. Stages of attachment identified by Schaffer. Multiple attachments and the role of the father

EXPLANATIONS OF ATTACHMENT & ATTACHMENT TYPE

• Explanations of attachment: learning theory and Bowlby’s monotropic theory. The concepts of a critical period and an internal working model
• Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’. Types of attachment: secure, insecure-avoidant and insecure-resistant. Cultural variations in attachment, including van Ijzendoorn

DEPRIVATION & INSTITUTIONALISATION

• Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation. Romanian orphan studies: effects of institutionalisation

EFFECTS OF ATTACHMENT ON LATER RELATIONSHIPS

• The influence of early attachment on childhood and adult relationships, including the role of an internal working model

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SPECIMEN PAPER 1 (AQA A-level Psychology revision notes)

Name three stages in the development of attachments identified by Schaffer.

[3 marks]

 

Read the item and then answer the question that follows.

A nursery school worker and her manager were chatting at the end of the day.

‘How did the new toddlers settle in today?’ asked the manager.

‘They behaved very differently’, replied the nursery school worker. ‘Max was distressed when his mother left but was happy to see her at the end of the day.’

‘Jessica arrived clinging to her mother and I could not calm her down when her mother left.’

‘William barely seemed to notice when his mother left and did not even look up when she returned to collect him.’

Name the attachment type demonstrated by each of the children in the conversation above by writing the attachment type next to the name below.

[3 marks]

• Max
• Jessica
• William

 

Briefly evaluate learning theory as an explanation of attachment.

[4 marks]

 

Read the item and then answer the question that follows.

A group of researchers used ‘event sampling’ to observe children’s friendships over a period of three weeks at break times and lunchtimes during the school day.

Explain what is meant by ‘event sampling’.

[2 marks]

 

The investigation in the question above is an example of a ‘naturalistic observation’.

Briefly discuss how observational research might be improved by conducting observations in a controlled environment.

[4 marks]

 

Discuss research into the influence of early attachment on adult relationships.

[8 marks]

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SPECIMEN PAPER 2 (How to revise for A-level Psychology)

Match each of the research findings 1, 2, 3 and 4 with one of the researchers A, B, C, D or E. Write A, B, C, D or E in the box next to the appropriate research finding. Use

each letter once only.

[4 marks]

A John Bowlby

B Mary Ainsworth

C Harry Harlow

D Karl Lorenz

E Rudolf Schaffer

 

1 Infants form multiple, rather than monotropic, attachments.

2 Infants form monotropic, rather than multiple, attachments.

3 Contact comfort is essential to an infant’s psychological health.

4 Through imprinting, new-borns attach to the first moving object that they see

 

Briefly discuss how researchers might address difficulties encountered when trying to investigate caregiver-infant interaction. [4 marks]

 

Discuss the effects of institutionalisation. Refer to the studies of Romanian orphans in your answer.

[16 marks]

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SPECIMEN PAPER 3 (Psychology A-level revision)

Two researchers wanted to investigate the influence of early attachment on later relationships. They asked 20 teenagers aged 14-16 to write an essay on the importance of family and friends. Ten of the teenagers had been raised by their mother and father. The other ten had spent the first five years of their lives in care (and were then adopted).

The researchers used content analysis to analyse the teenagers’ essays. The researchers devised a set of categories to do this, two of which were ‘references to love’ and ‘references to fear of rejection’.

 

Explain one way in which the researchers may have checked whether their categories were reliable.

[3 marks]

 

The results of the investigation for references to love and references to fear of rejection are shown in Table 1 below:

 

Table 1: The total number of references to love and references to fear of rejection in essays written by the care group and the non-care group.

 

Draw a suitable graphical display to represent the data in Table 1.

[3 marks]

 

Express the total number of references to love in the essays written by the care group as a fraction of the total number of references to love in the essays overall. Show your calculations.

[3 marks]

 

The researchers decided to interview some of the teenagers about their early life experiences.

Explain how the data collected from the interview might have improved upon the data collected from the content analysis.

[3 marks]

 

Explain Bowlby’s monotropic theory. Refer to the data in Table 1 in your answer.

[6 marks]

 

Briefly evaluate Bowlby’s monotropic theory. In your answer, refer to multiple attachments and the role of the father.

[6 marks]

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2017 (A-level Psychology revision)

Which two of the following are associated with an insecure-resistant attachment type?

Choose two from the options A, B, C, D and E.

[2 marks]

A           Extreme stranger anxiety

B           Indifference when the mother leaves the room

C           Low willingness to explore the new environment

D           Moderate levels of separation anxiety

E           Obvious joy when reunited with the mother

 

Name three of the stages of attachment identified by Schaffer.

[3 marks]

 

What is meant by ‘reciprocity’ in the context of caregiver-infant interaction?

[2 marks]

 

Briefly evaluate research into caregiver-infant interaction.

[4 marks]

 

Anca is an orphan who has recently been adopted by a British couple. Before being adopted, Anca lived in an institution with lots of other children in very poor conditions. Her new parents are understandably concerned about how Anca’s early experiences may affect her in the future.

Use your knowledge of the effects of institutionalisation to advise Anca’s new parents about what to expect.

[5 marks]

 

Discuss findings of research into cultural variations in attachment.

[8 marks]

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2018 (AQA A-level Psychology revision)

State two effects of institutionalisation.

[2 marks]

 

Outline how Lorenz and Harlow studied attachment using animals.

[6 marks]

 

Two mothers at the toddler and parent group are chatting.

“I always felt sorry for my husband when Millie was a baby. He used to say his bond with Millie was not as strong as mine because I was breastfeeding.”

“I’m not sure”, replies the other mother. “I think there’s something about a mother’s love that makes it more special anyway – and so important for future development.”

 

Discuss the learning theory of attachment and Bowlby’s monotropic theory of attachment. Refer to the conversation above in your answer.

[16 marks]

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2019 (AQA A-level Psychology revision guide)

Outline findings from research into the role of the father in attachment.

[4 marks]

 

Explain the economic implications of research into the role of the father in attachment.

[4 marks]

 

Discuss research into the influence of early attachment on childhood and/or adult relationships.

[16 marks]

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2020 (A-level Psychology resources)

Nine-year-old Annie asks her mother, “What was I like as a toddler?”

“Oh, you could be a bit difficult,” Annie’s mother replies. “You used to scream when I left you at nursery. When I returned to pick you up, you would run towards me and then push me away.”

Identify the attachment type that Annie’s mother is describing.

[1 mark]

 

Distinguish between two other types of attachment.

[4 marks]

 

Studies of attachment often involve naturalistic observations.

Suggest one way in which studies of attachment could be improved by using controlled observations.

[3 marks]

 

Discuss research into caregiver-infant interactions in humans.

[16 marks]

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2021 (AQA A-level Psychology resources)

Annie feeds her newborn baby regularly and they have formed a strong bond.

According to the learning theory of attachment, before any attachment had been formed, the milk Annie gives her baby is best described as:

Shade one box only.

A           a conditioned stimulus.

B           a neutral stimulus.

C           an unconditioned response.

D           an unconditioned stimulus.

[1 mark]

 

According to the learning theory of attachment, now she has formed an attachment with her baby, Annie is best described as:

Shade one box only.

A           a conditioned stimulus.

B           a neutral stimulus.

C           an unconditioned response.

D           an unconditioned stimulus.

[1 mark]

 

Outline one difference in attachment behaviours shown by infants who have an insecure-avoidant attachment and infants who have an insecure-resistant attachment.

[2 marks]

 

These different attachment types were first identified in Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’.

Evaluate the procedure known as the ‘Strange Situation’.

[5 marks]

 

Researchers investigated whether the experience of bullying is influenced by attachment type. They interviewed teenagers about their early attachment experiences. Following the interviews, the teenagers were categorised into two groups based on their attachment type:

• Group 1 – secure attachment in childhood
• Group 2 – insecure attachment (insecure-avoidant or insecure-resistant) in childhood.

During the interview, the teenagers were also asked about their experience of bullying. They were categorised as either:

• having had experience of bullying, or
• having had no experience of bullying.

Which statistical test would be most suitable to analyse the data in this investigation?

With reference to this investigation, explain three reasons for your choice of test.

[7 marks]

 

Discuss the influence of early attachment on childhood relationships. Refer to the likely results of the study in Question 13 in your answer.

[8 marks]

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2022 (A-level Psychology notes)

Which two of the following attachment concepts were not introduced by Bowlby?

Shade two boxes only.

[2 marks]

A           Affectionless psychopathy

B           Critical period

C           Interactional synchrony

D           Internal working model

E           Multiple attachment stage

 

Outline one example of cultural variation in attachment.

[2 marks]

 

Lenny is being interviewed for a TV dating show. He describes his approach to relationships:

“My friends would say I’m scared of commitment and need to settle down. I suppose they’re right, I’m in my late thirties now. I fall in love constantly but my relationships never last more than a few weeks. My mum left when I was very young, I don’t know if that has something to do with it…”

Explain how, according to attachment research, Lenny’s early experience might have influenced his later relationships.

[4 marks]

 

Outline Lorenz’s and Harlow’s animal studies of attachment. Discuss what these studies might tell us about human attachment.

[16 marks]