Caregiver-infant Interactions; Stages of Attachment; Multiple Attachments; Role of Father

Question 1

What is an attachment?

Answer 1

A long term emotional bond between caregiver and infant

Question 2

What is reciprocity?

Answer 2

Turn-taking behaviour where the caregiver makes an action and the baby responds (eg. Peek-a-boo)

Question 3

What is interactional synchrony?

Answer 3

Simultaneous, mirroring behaviour where caregiver makes an action and baby copies)

Question 4

What did Meltzoff & Moore investigate?
What did they find?

Answer 4

Interactional synchrony by getting an adult model to make one of three faces or a hand movement to a baby while it had a dummy in its mouth. Then the dummy was removed and the baby’s response was filmed and judges by neutral observers
Found an association between behaviours in infants as young as three days old suggesting interactional synchrony is innate

Question 5

What are 2 strengths of caregiver-infant interactions?

Answer 5

1. There is supportive evidence
2. The observation was well-controlled and filmed and obtained high inter-observer reliability so the findings were highly reliable and accurate

Question 6

What are 2 limitations of infant-caregiver interactions?

Answer 6

1. Babies constantly move their arms and mouths so it is hard to investigate intentional behaviour questioning the accuracy of the findings
2. There is no cause and effect because it is unethical to change the amount/type of caregiver interaction

Question 8

What did Schaffer & Emerson investigate?
What did they find?

Answer 8

Development of attachments between 60 working-class mothers and their infants from Glasgow by visiting the mothers every month and asking them to report on the babies’ reaction to separation and any protest
Found that first major attachment developed at 7-8 months (65% attached to mother first, 3% to father), by 1 most babies had multiple attachments and attachments develop across 4 stages over first 1 year to 18 months

Question 9

What is the first stage of attachment acccording to Shafffer and Emerson (what age)?

Answer 9

Asocial (0-2 months): baby responds in same way to all objects

Question 10

What is the second stage of attachment acccording to Shafffer and Emerson (what age)?

Answer 10

Indiscriminate attachments (2-7 months): at around 4 months, baby becomes social and prefers people to inanimate objects

Question 11

What is the third stage of attachment acccording to Shafffer and Emerson (what age)?

Answer 11

Specific attachments (7-12 months): infants demonstrate separation anxiety, joy on reunion, and stranger anxiety because attachment has formed

Question 12

What is the fourth stage of attachment acccording to Shafffer and Emerson (what age)?

Answer 12

Multiple attachments (12 months onwards): infants form attachments with family/friends (29% developed multiple attachments one month after the first one)

Question 13

What is a strength of Schaffer & Emerson’s research?

Answer 13

The babies were observed in their own homes so their behaviour was likely to be natural and unaffected by research

Question 14

What are 3 limitations of Schaffer & Emerson’s research?

Answer 14

1. Uses self-report measures so reports may not be accurate due to social desirability bias
2. Findings are culturally biased as collectivist cultures emphasise family
3. Research lacks temporal validity as during the time where it took place, mothers were discouraged from entering the workforce