Attachment Flashcards
What are the two caregiver-infant interactions in humans?
Reciprocity and Interactional synchrony
What is reciprocity?
Interactions between caregivers and infant involving a two way/mutual responsiveness i.e. interactions flow back and forth between the attachment figure and baby
What is interactional synchrony?
Interactions between caregiver and infant are ‘synchronised’ so that their responses reflect each other. They respond in time to sustain communications
What are the 4 key behaviours to show attachments identified by Maccoby?
Seeking proximity by child and PAF
Distress on separation (anxiety)
Pleasure when reunited
General orientation of behaviour towards PAF
What are three strengths of the caregiver-infant interactions in humans theory?
-Research evidence to support the concept of reciprocity (Tronick ‘still face’)
-Research evidence to support the concept of interactional synchrony (Meltzoff + Moore)
-Practical applications from the ‘still face’ experiment
What are two weaknesses of the caregiver-infant interactions in humans theory?
-Research may be socially sensitive (role of the father has changed and this theory is very stereotypical)
-Explanation may be incomplete (other caregivers play an important role in the development of infants)
What was the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson’s research study?
It was a longitudinal study completed in Scotland that followed the development of attachments in 60 infants. Using naturalistic observations the infants were observed every 4 weeks for up to 1 year and then observed once more at 18 months
What two ways was attachment measured in Schaffer and Emerson’s?
By assessing the levels of separation protest and levels of stranger anxiety
What is the levels of separation protest and how where they measured?
How the infants reacted to being separated from attachment figures. It was measured by asking mothers to describe the intensity of any protest when an infant was left in 7 everyday situations, which was then rated on a 4 point scale
What were the results of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
At 6-8 months, 50% of children showed their first specific attachment and this tended to be the mother. By 10 months, 50% had more than one attachment (father, grandparents, older siblings) - by 18 months this was up to 87%.
What conclusions could you draw from Schaffer and Emerson’s research?
As there’s common patterns in the development of attachment bonds us biologically determined. Attachment bonds are likely to be formed with people who show sensitivity and responsiveness and correctly interpret the babies signals about their needs not who physically cares for them. Multiple attachments are the norm
What are the four stages of development suggested by Schaffer and in what months do they tend to take place?
-Asocial stage (0-3months)
-Indiscriminate attachment stage(3-7 months)
-Discriminate attachment stage (7-8 months)
-Multiple attachments (9-10 months)
What happened during the Asocial stage of a child’s development?
Infant produces similar responses to objects and people with no specific preferences
What happens during the indiscriminate attachment stage of a child’s development?
Babies become more sociable, can tell people apart and prefer to be in human company
What happens in the discriminate attachment stage of a child’s development?
Infants begin to show separation anxiety and stranger anxiety. They show a strong attachment and preference to one individual
What happens in the multiple attachments stage of a child’s development?
The baby now makes several attachments to important people in their life
What is two strengths of Shaffer’s development stages?
-Developed from results of a research study by Schaffer and Emerson
-Practical applications- can lead to early intervention to encourage the caregivers to form an attachment
What are two weaknesses of Schaffer’s development stages?
-Culturally specific and limited to describing an individualist concept
-Methodologically flawed (Schaffer and Emersons research study)-all working class Ps
What is the traditional role of the father in a child’s attachment development?
Fathers have been seen as playing a minor role in the parenting of their children. Traditionally, mothers stayed at home and fathers went to work therefore the mother was usually the primary caregiver and became the primary attachment
What is the modern role of the father in a child’s attachment development?
Mothers are far more likely yo work (71.2% working mothers in 2020) and stay at home dads are on the rise. This means that the role of the father in attachments needs to be re-examined
What aspects should you consider when regarding the role of the father?
-It’s possible that there are mediating factors that relate to the type of attachment a father has with his children such as the interactions, accessibility(how physically and emotionally available he is), and the responsibility (the extent to which he takes on ‘caretaking tasks’
What did Grossman (2002) research and what did he find?
He conducted a longitudinal study of 44 families comparing the role of fathers’ and mothers’ contribution to their children’s attachment experiences at 6, 10, and 16 years old. They found that the quality of mother-child attachment was important but that was not the case when examining the attachment of the father-child suggesting the father role is less important. However, it did find that the quality of father’s play was related to the quality of attachment suggesting the father role is more of a stimulatory one.
What did Field (1978) research and what did he find?
He conducted research which compared the behaviours of primary caretaker mothers with primary and secondary caretaker fathers. Face-to-face interactions were analysed from video footage with infants at 4 months of age. They found that fathers who were primary attachment figures acted in very similar ways to mothers who were primary attachment figures towards their children showing more smiling etc. than secondary caretaker fathers. This suggests that fathers are able, if required, to take on the more caring, nurturing role usually associated with the mother
Who researched into the sensitivity of the role of the father and what did they find?
Hardy - suggests that fathers are less able than mothers to detect low levels of infant distress, which suggests males are less suitable as primary caregivers. But, Lamb (1987) found that fathers who became the primary caregiver quickly develop more sensitivity to children’s needs which suggests that sensitive responsiveness isn’t a biological ability limited to woman
