Attachment

Question 1

What is Attachment

Answer 1

a strong emotional bond between an infant and their caregiver

Question 2

list the features of caregiver-infant interactions

Answer 2

Sensitive responsiveness - the caregiver responds appropriately to signals from the infant
Imitation - the infant copies the caregiver’s actions and behaviours. For example, Meltzoff and Moore found that infants between 2 and 3 weeks old appeared to imitate the facial expressions and hand movements of the experimenter
Interactional Synchrony - infants react in time with the caregiver’s speech, resulting in a conversational dance
Reciprocity - interaction flows back and forth between the caregiver and infant

Question 3

Outline and define the four stages of attachment as inditified by Schaffer

Answer 3

0-2 months - Asocial - baby learns to separate people from objects but doesn’t have any strong preference for who cares for it
2-7 months - Indiscriminate stage - the infant begins to distinguish and recognise faces, smiling moree at familiar faces however there is still no preference,
7-11 months - Specific Attachment - infant begins to form a strong attachment with an individual (shown by being happy when the person is around and distressed when they leave)
After 11 months - Multiple Attachements - the infant can form attachments to many different people. Some attachments may be stronger than others.