Attatchment Flashcards
What is attachment? (2)
An emotional two way bond between people that last over time. It leads to behaviors such as proximity-seeking and clinging.
What is a caregiver? (1)
A person providing care for a child such as a mother, farther, sibling etc.
What is interactional synchrony? (2)
When two people mirror another’s facial or body movements and emotions. It is synchrony as the two move in a pattern together.
What is reciprocity? (2)
Responding to an action with a similar action, where the actions elicit a response from the partner. The responses are not identical as in interactional synchrony.
Give an example of a study into reciprocity (3)
1970s research showed infant and caregiver interactions were coordinated like a conversation. The baby followed a rhythm of taking turns like a conversation. This is an example of reciprocity.
Why is the conversation like rhythm in caregiver interactions important, according to Brazelton? (3)
It was a precursor to later interactions.
It rhythm allowed the caregiver to anticipate and respond to the infants behavior. This lays the groundwork for an attachment between the caregiver and the baby.
Give the procedure of a study into interactional syncronisation (6)
Meltzoff and Moore chose 4 stimuli (3 face and 1 hand gesture where the fingers moved in s sequence) and observed infant response to this.
A dummy was placed in the babies mouth during this action to prevent any response and after removed.
The observer watched videos of the infants reaction in real time, slow motion and frame by frame.
Independent observers, who did not know what the infant had seen, looked out for tongue protrusions and the returning of the tongue to the mouth and the opening and closing of the mouth.
They scored the tapes twice so intra and inter observer reliability could be calculated, the scores were all higher than 0.92.
What arguments are there to suggest the imitation in caregiver interactions is real? (3)
Piaget said true imitation began at the start of the 1st year and that anything before this was response training.
She argued the child was just repeating an action that they felt was being rewarded.
For example, a caregiver sticks out its tongue and so does an infant causing the caregiver to smile, a reward. The child will repeat this behavior next time.
This is not consciously matched movement .
What arguments are there to suggest the imitation in caregiver interactions is real?
Muary and Trevarthen- 2 month old saw mother on real time video camera. Then a tape of the mother was played so they were not responding to the infant, causing the infants distress and to turn away.
This shows they are trying to elicit a response, not showing a reward behavior, and that they are active in the the mother-infant relationship. It suggests that behaviors are innate not learned.
Why are there problems testing infant behavior? (evaluate)
It is hard to test infant behavior. They are in constant motion so it hard to tell if an action is a response or a general action.
To overcome this Meltzoff and Moore then decided to to film infants and ask observers to to judge there behavior The observer didn’t know what was being imitated increasing the internal validity.
Give examples of how studies on caregiver interactions are hard to replicate (evaluate)
Koope et al did not replicate but it is arguably due to lack of control.
Marian replicated it and found infants couldn’t tell between video and real time mother, suggesting they are not responding to their actions.
How was it tested weather response from infants in caregiver interactions was intentional? (evaluate)
It was found that infants 5-12 weeks made little response with objects stimulating tongue and mouth movements. Therefore, the response is a specific social reaction to humans.
How is individual differences important to interactional syncrony? (evaluate)
Research shows more strongly attached infants show more interactional syncrony. This shows a close relationship between strength of relationship and syncrony.
Infants who show show a lot of imitation from birth seem to have better a relationship quality at 3 months, although it is not know if this is a cause or effect of early syncrony.
What is the value of research into caregiver interactions? (evaluate)
Meltzoff’s ‘like me’ hypothesis. There is a connection between what infant sees and their imitation of this, second they associate their own acts and mental states and third they project their experiences onto those performing similar acts. It allows them to understand how people think and feel, allowing them social relationships.
What is a multiple attachment?
Having more than one attachment figure
What is a primary attachment figure?
The person with the closet, most intense relationship with the child. Normally a mother but can be others like a sibling or father.
What is separation anxiety?
Distress shown when a child is separated from its caregiver
What is stranger anxiety?
Distress shown when an infant is approached or picked up by a stranger
What was the aim of Schaffer and Emerson’s study in 1964 on attachment?
To investigate the development of attachments
What was the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson’s study in 1964 on attachment?
Participants: 60 infants from working class homes in Glasgow aged 5-23 weeks Duration: infants studied for a year Procedure: Mothers visited every 4 weeks where they reported infant's response to 7 situations of separation. They described the intensity if the cry which was rated on a 4 point scale. They reported who the cry was directed at. Stranger anxiety was measured by the infant's reaction to the experimenter each visit.
Describe the four stages of attachment.
- Indiscriminate Attachment, birth - 2 months
Same response to animate and inanimate objects but prefer social stimuli toward the end of this period. Reciprocity and International Synchronization play a role in their relationships. - Beginning of Attachment, 4 months
General sociability. Prefer socializing with humans. Can tell between those who are familiar and not. No stranger anxiety and mostly comforted by anyone. - Discriminant Attachment, 7 months
Show stranger anxiety and are happy to be reunited with primary attachment figure, which they have formed. Show stranger anxiety, reinforces idea of primary caregiver.
PC is who responds best to infants signals and interacts with them, not who spends the most time with them. Poorly attached infant’s mother’s did not interact with them.
65%- PC mother, 30% PC mother + other, 27% PC mother + father, 3% PC father - Multiple Attachments
More attachments made after their PA depending an amount of consistent relationships. 1 month after being attached 29% had secondary attachments. 6 months 78% had secondary attachments. 1/3 had 5 or more of these.
How could Schaffer and Emerson’s attachment study have been biased and produced unreliable data? (evaluate)
Unreliable data- based on mother's report of infant. Some may be less sensitive to cries of infant so may not report them. Creates systematic bias challenging validity. Biased sample- based only on working class socio-economic group so applies to only them. Care has changed since 1960s, women go to work and more men stay home at children. The study if done today would probably produce different results.
Give an argument for and against the idea that all attachments are equivalent (evaluate)
Bowlby- one special attachment and all others are subsidiary but important as a emotional safety net and fulfill other needs. eg siblings for help with peers
Rutter- all attachments equal and interrogated to form infants attachment type.
How could culture affect Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
Individualist culture such as the US and UK focus primarily on the need of the immediate family.
Collectivist cultures focus on needs of group and share things such as childcare so there may be more multiple attachments.
When comparing these two cultures, children in a family based sleeping arrangement were two times more likely to have a close attachment with their mother than children in Kibbutzim, a collectivist culture, who spent time, both day and night, in a children’s home. This suggest the stages of attachment apply only to individualist cultures.
