3 - attatchment Flashcards
what is the definition of attachment?
an emotional relationship between two people in which each seeks closeness and feels more secure when in the presence of the attachment figure
what is reciprocity?
infant and caregiver are both contributors and are responding to eachother
what did Feldman say about reciprocity?
reciprocity can be seen in actions from 3 months old
what is interactional synchrony?
where actions and emotions between caregiver and infant mirror each other
what did Feldman say about interactional synchrony
temporal coordination of micro-level social behavious
what was Meltzoff and Moore’s observation?
observed whether new born babies would mirror their parent just after birth
parent would make a face or a and gesture, ten a dummy was removed from the babies mouth and their response was filmed
often, there was an association between tr two, showing reciprocity
AO3 of observations of infants
P - conclusions from observations of infants can be problematic
E - Faces of infants are almost constantly moving and the behavioural categories in Meltzoff and Moore’s observation occur frequently for different reasons
E - This makes it hard to identify the difference between imitated, synchronized, or just general behaviour
however, observations by M and M since then, measured infant responses by filming infants and then by asking an observer to judge the infant’s behaviour from the video
E - This highlights the difficulties in testing infant behaviour, but also ways of increasing internal validity
AO3 of observations of infant’s behaviour
inferences
P - Other limitations are that inferences are made to attempt to explain these interactions and they don’t tell us the purpose of these interactions
E - Infants are unable to communicate their thoughts and emotions, so findings and conclusions are based on inferences made from observations of behaviours
E - This is unscientific and leads to bias if experimenters are looking for particular behaviour. Shows us what happens, not why it happens
AO3 of ethical implications of M&M’s research
P - there could be some ethical implications (not limitations)
E - Research could be socially sensitive. Isabella et al found that high levels of interactional synchrony were associated with better mother-infant interactions and attachments
E - This may lead to mothers or fathers feeling guilty for being a ‘bad parent’ and returning to work
L - Therefore, negative portrayal of working mothers could result in distressing consequences such as guilt
what were the aims of Schaffer and Emerson’s observational study?
to investigate the formation of early attachment (in particular the age they were formed)
what was the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
studied 60 infants, visiting their homes every 4 weeks for 12 months and then again when the infant was 18 months old. They recorded and then analyzed children’s reactions during seven everyday situations where adults would naturally be separated from their infants.
what were the findings of Schaffer and Emerson’s observation?
- by 6 months, about 50% of babies showed separation anxiety towards their care giver
- attachment tended to be the care giver who was most interactive and sensitive to the baby’s needs
- by 9 months, 80% of babies had a specific attachment to primary care giver and 30% had multiple attachments
what are the 4 stages of parent-infant attachment?
1 - asocial stage
2 - indiscriminate stage
3 - specific attachment
4 - multiple attachments
what age is the asocial stage and what are behavioural characteristics?
up to 2 months
- infants produce a similar response to all objects, whether they are animate or not
- begin to show preference to social stimuli e.g. smiling
what age is the indiscriminate stage and what are behavioural characteristics?
2-7 months
- more social
- easily comforted by anyone
- prefer human company
- begin to distinguish familiar with non familiar
- no stranger anxiety
what age is the specific attachment stage and what are behavioural characteristics?
7 month +
- start to show separation anxiety
- show joy when reunited with comfort person
- specific attachment to primary attachment giver
- displays stranger anxiety
what age is the multiple attachment stage and what are behavioural characteristics?
10-12 months
- wider circle of multiple attachments such as dad, grandparents, family etc.
strengths of the development attachment research carried out by Schaffer and Emmerson
Ecological validity
P - a strength of this research is that it has high ecological validity
E - This is because the research was carried out in the baby’s own home and with their mother in a daily setting
E - this is likely to reflect real life behaviour as the infant’s behaviour would be usual as they’re in their usual environment
limitation of the development attachment research carried out by Schaffer and Emmerson
population/temporal validity
P - the findings cant be generalised beyond the sample used and wouldn’t be currently valid
E - the sample used was from a working-class population so findings mat not apply to further socio-economic groups
- also the research was carried out in 1964 and now more mothers go to work and it is more common for a father to be the primary carer
E - research has shown that the number of fathers who stay at home had quadrupled over the last 25 years
L - this suggests that Bowlby may have been wrong about the hierarchy of attachment
limitation of the development attachment research carried out by Schaffer and Emmerson
cultural variations
P - there are many differences between cultures in terms of the way people act and relate to eachother
E - In individualist cultures such as the UK, each person is primarily concerned with their own needs and close family. In collective cultures such as Israel, they are more focused on the needs of groups rather than individuals
- Sagi et al compared attachments in infants raised in communal environments and others raised in family based sleeping arrangements
- they found that the closeness with mothers was almost twice as common in family based than community
E - this suggests attachment isn’t completely biological and the stage model applies mostly for individualistic cultures.
what did Schaffer and Emerson find about fathers?
they found they were less likely to be the primary attachment figure than mothers
this could be due to
- amount of time spent with infant
- claim they aren’t physiologically equipped
- lack emotional sensitivity
- biological reasons
- social expectations and stereotypes
AO3 on what Schaffer and Emerson’s findings on fathers role
P - Hrdy found that the men were less able to detect low levels of infant distress in comparison to mothers
E - however Frodi showed videotapes of infants crying and found no physiological difference in the responses form men and women
E - this provides mixed evidence
What is said about the importance of fathers as a secondary attachment figure
they are often more playful, physically active and provide more challenging situations for their child whereas the mother is often more affectionate and nurturing
what was the procedure of Lorenz’s research?
- he took a clutch of gosling eggs and divided them into 2
- one group was left with their natural mother, and the others were left in an incubator
- the incubator eggs saw Lorenz first and followed him
- to test the imprinting, he marked each group to identify who they would all follow