Attachment Flashcards
(33 cards)
What is Attachment?
Close emotional bond between two people that is characterised by key behaviours such as proximity seeking and serves the function of protection of the infant.
What is Reciprocity about?
-Co ordination
-Eliciting responses
-Important for later communication -> carer learns about needs for infant
-Foundation for later attachment
e.g. infant kicking legs and carer tickling there legs after or talking to them etc
What is Interactional Synchrony?
-Imitation
-Meltzoff & Moore
-Innate (not learned)
What did Schaffer and Emerson find about the role of fathers?
They found that fathers are a lot less likely to be the primary attachement figure than mothers
->however they were out at work so couldn’t form relationship.
How might the Findings of Schaffer and Emerson on the role of the father be explained?
It may be because they spend less time with thei infatns so don’t have as many opportunities to form the primary attachment.
What did Lamb (1997) say about the spending less time idea?
Lamb said that studies have shown that the quality of the interactions between an infant and caregiver is more important than quantity.
How could biology explain the differene between male and female attachments to infants?
The female hormone oestrogen and oxytocin which are both care giving hormones so women are usually more oriented towards interpersonal goals than men.
How might ‘cultural expectations’ explain the difference between male and female attachments to infants?
Culturally, there are sex stereotypes that effect male behaviour, like being sensitive to the needs of others being seen as feminine.
What evidence has research provided about the role of the father?
There is evidence that men are less sensitive to infant cues than mothers. However, Frodi et al showed videos of babies crying and found no psychological difference between men and women.
Research also found that in two-parent families where the father is the primary caregiver, both parents show the primary attachment figure.
What did Geiger (1996) find?
Geiger found that fathers’ play interactions are more exciting and pleasurable than mothers’, as mothers’s are more nuturing and affectionate, supporing the idea that fathers are more like playmates.
What was the Aim of Meltzoff & Moore’s study?
To investigate interactional synchrony systematically -> first systematic study of its kind.
What was the Procedure of Meltzoff & Moore’s study?
-Used infants aged two-three weeks old.
-They were presented with stimuli (sticking tongue out, raising hand etc) from models that stood above the baby.
-It was videotaped, judges watched, not being able to see the models (no bias) and had to write down what they say the baby do.
What were the Findings of Meltzoff & Moore’s study?
The babies imitated the babies behaviour.
What was the Conclusion of the Meltzoff Moore study?
That interactional synchrony is an innate behaviour as they repeated it for 2-3 day old infants ( because Jean Piaget suggested that imitation only developed towards the end of the first year and before this, any imitation was learned behaviour) meaning it wasn’t learned behaviour.
What are is a problems in testing infant behaviour?
-Babies are often moving so it is hard to tell whether they are actually responding to the stimuli or not (are they just wriggling anyway). This poses a threat to internal validity of the study/ research.
-However, Meltzoff and Moore controlled for this problem by getting independent judges to measure the babies behaviour, without being able to see the model, and they didn’t know what it was for, removing bias.
Why does the study by Koepke et al (1983) challenge the finding of Meltzoff & Moore, on interactional synchrony?
-The study challenges Meltzoff & Moore’s findings as it failed to replicate, them like many others.
-However, Meltzoff & Moore said it failed to replicate findings as it was less carefully controlled,
-Further more many other methods were used in the other studies so they were bound to find different things
How has the “intention” of infant behaviour been tested, to check they are responding to a specific human behaviour?
-Abravanel and De Yong observed infant behaviour by using two inanimate objects, one stimulating tongue movement and the other, mouth opening.
-They found that infants of around 5-12 weeks has little responses to the object.
-This backups Meltzoff & Moore’s study as it shows that babies didn’t just imitate anything they see, but it’s specific to humans.
What was the Aim of Schaffer & Emerson’s (1963) Glasgow babies study?
An investigation into the development of infant attachments.
What was the Procedure for Schaffer & Emerson’s (1963) Glasgow babies study?
-Longitudinal study of 60 babies drawn from a predominately working class area of Glasgow.
-At the start of the investiagtion infants ranged from 5-23 weeks old.
-Infants were studied until 1 years old.
-At each visit, the mother reported their infants responses to separation in seven everyday situations (e.g. being left alone in a room, left with other people).
-Mother was asked to describe the intensity of any protest (e.g. a full blow cry or a simple whimper) which was then rated on a four point scale.
-Finalyy, the mother was asked to say whom the protest was drected.
-Stranger anxiety was also measured by assessing the infant’s response to the interviewer at each visit.
What were the Findings of Schaffer & Emerson’s (1963) Glasgow babies study?
-Between 25 and 32 weeks of age, about 50% of babies showed signs of separation anxiety towards a particular adult (usually the mother which signified a specific attachment).
-Attachment tended to be to a caregiver who was most interactive and sensitive to infant signals and facial expressions (reciprocity). This was not necessarily the person the infant spent most time with.
-By the age of 40 weeks 80% of babies had a specific attchment and almost 30% displayed multiple attachments.
What is the First stage in Schaffer & Emersons’s Stage Theory?
-The Indiscriminate attachment (Asocial) stage
-Birth - 2 months
-Similar response to all objects, then greater preference towards people towards the end of 2 months. Reciprocity & Interactional Synchrony play a role in developing attachments.
What is the Second stage in Schaffer & Emersons’s Stage Theory?
-The Beggingings of attachment (Presocial) stage
-2 - 4 months
-Seek attention from a number of people and generally are content when they receive it. May not yet show stranger anxiety.
What is the Third stage in Schaffer & Emersons’s Stage Theory?
-The Discriminate attachment stage
-4 - 7 months
-Typically develop strong attachment to one person, showing separation protest and stranger anxiety.
What is the Fourth stage in Schaffer & Emersons’s Stage Theory?
-The Multiple attachments stage
-7 - 9 months onwards
-Strong emotional ties with other carers develop along with non-carers such a siblings which are secondry attachments.
