Introduction to attachment

Question 1

Definition of attachment

Answer 1

“A close emotional relationship between two persons characterised by mutual affection and a desire to maintain proximity (closeness)

Question 2

Caregiver-infant interactions

Answer 2

Reciprocity- when babies and caregivers mutually respond to eachothers behaviour. Take turns.

Interactional synchrony- the detailed mimicry and mirroring between carer and baby which forms the early basis of communication. Could be movements or sounds.

Question 3

Meltzoff and Moore (1977, 1983) - do babies and adults show interactional synchrony

Answer 3

• asked adults to display one of three facial expressions to the baby (e.g. Tongue out, mouth open, pout)
• in a lab with controlled conditions with an independent observer who didn’t know what expressing the baby had seen and recorded what he saw.
  Found- babies as young as 3 days old can imitate facial expressions suggesting it may be an innate response to form attachments to parents for survival.

Question 4

Isabella (1989)- is interactional synchrony important for attachments

Answer 4

-observed 30 mothers and children and measured the amount of interactional synchrony. 10 securely attached, 10 insecure avoidant, 10 insecure resistant.
Found- secure attached most interactional synchrony, other two similarity lower, but all develop more over time.

Question 5

Murray and Trevarthen (1985)- babies communicate, not copy.

Answer 5

• used 2 month olds
• a mother interacted with her baby through a video screen.
  -then secondly a video of the mother was played so the mother couldn’t respond to the synchrony to the baby
  Found- that the babies showed distress when the mother didn’t communicate back, supporting the idea that babies are trying to communicate

Question 6

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) - stages in development of attachments

Answer 6

-longitudinal study over first 2 years of 60 babies lives from working class Glasgow
- observed every 4 weeks until 1 year old, then every 18 weeks after the age of 1
- they assessed whether the child was attached to the parent.
-they were said to be attached if the protested when separated from the parent and showed stranger anxiety.
-recorded by observers and from mothers.
Found - correlation between number of babies showing specific attachment and stranger anxiety.
- all reached attachment and stranger anxiety by 53 weeks.

Question 7

Stages of attachment

Answer 7

Pre-attachment - baby shows little difference in response to different people. 0-2 months

Indiscriminate attachment- gradually the baby starts to show preference for familiar people. 2-7 months

Discriminate attachment- shows clear attachment to one or two people and cries/protests when removed from them. Shows wariness of strangers. 7-9 months

Multiple attachments- the baby shows attachment to other people. 9 months

Question 8

Carpenter (1975) - earlier attachment than Schaffer and Emerson say?

Answer 8

Found- even at 2 weeks old a baby will be upset if their mothers face is accompanied by a different voice.

Question 9

Extra Schaffer and Emerson findings

Answer 9

• In 39% of babies the person who usually fed them, were not the babies primary attachment figure.
• 65% of babies formed their first attachment with their mother.

Question 10

Geiger (1996) - father

Answer 10

Found:
Fathers- tend to engage in more exciting, physical games with their children than mothers. And they are less able then parents to detect distress.
Mother- good at detecting distress and are more caring.

Question 11

Brown et al (2010) - co-parenting

Answer 11

-assessed 68 families
-infants ages 12-13 months old
Found- high levels of supportive co-parenting were related to secure attachment types between infants and fathers, but not between infants and mothers.
So- co-parenting is important for fathers forming a secure attachment with his child,