Att - Introduction to attachment

Question 1

Attachment definition

Answer 1

A close emotional relationship between an infant and their caregiver

Question 2

Features of infant-caregiver interaction

Answer 2

• Reciprocity; interaction flows back and forth between the caregiver and infant through verbal signals and facial expressions
• Interactional synchrony; infants react in time with the caregiver’s speech, resulting in a conversational dance

Question 3

Findings about the role of the father in attachment

Answer 3

• Schaffer and Emerson found that the mother was the primary caregiver in only half of the infants. A third of the infants preferred their father and the rest had their strongest attachment to their grandparents or siblings
• Also, they found that most children are attached to fathers by 18 months
• Grossman found that the quality of fathers’ play with infants was related to the quality of adolescence attachment. This suggests that fathers have a different role in attachment - one to do with play and stimulation and less to do with nurturing

Question 4

Evaluation of reciprocity and interactional synchrony (attachment)

Answer 4

• Difficult to know what for certain is happening when observing infants; infant facial expressions and verbal signs may be misinterpreted. it’s a baby, you don’t know what they’re thinking!
• Controlled observation capture fine detail; included filming
• Observations don’t tell us the purpose, simply behaviours that occur at the same time; however, there is some evidence to suggest they are helpful in the development in the development of mother-infant attachment
• Socially sensitive research; could suggest that mothers shouldn’t return to work too soon so that infant-caregiver attachment can be developed

Question 5

What is the evidence supporting reciprocity?

Answer 5

Meltzoff and Moore found that infants between 2-3 weeks of age appeared to imitate the facial expressions and hand movements of their experimenter