The Role Of The Father

Question 1

What did Schaffer and Emerson find in terms of who infants attached to first?

Answer 1

Infants tend to become attached to the mother first, then form an attachment with the father later on

Question 2

What does Geiger’s (1996) research suggest about the role of the father?

Answer 2

That a father’s relationship with their child is more focused around play than nurturing and caring

Question 3

What did Goodsell and Meldrum’s (2009) study find?

Answer 3

That infants with a secure attachment to their mother were more likely to have a secure attachment to their father

Question 4

What evidence contradicts the assumption that a mother’s attachment is crucial to healthy emotional development of a child?

Answer 4

There are many single-father and same-sex fathers that have secure attachments to their children, who grow up unaffected by the absence of a mother.