Attachment

Question 1

What is attachment?

Answer 1

A close emotional relationship between an infant and their caregiver

Question 2

What are the 4 things involved in developing and maintaining attachment?

Answer 2

1. Sensitive Responsiveness
2. Imitation
3. Interactional synchrony
4. Reciprocity

Question 3

What is sensitive responsiveness?

Answer 3

When the caregiver responds appropriately to signals from the infant

Question 4

What is imitation?

Answer 4

When the infant copies the caregivers actions and behaviour. e.g Meltzoff and Moore found that infants between 2/3 weeks would imitate their caregivers facial expressions and hand movements

Question 5

What is Interactional synchrony?

Answer 5

Infants reacting in time with caregivers speech, resulting in ‘conversation dance’. Proven by Condon and Sander who shows babies do appear to move in time with adult conversations

Question 6

What are the stages of attachment?

Answer 6

Asocial: 0-3 months
Infants can separate ppl from objects, no preference as to caregiver
Indiscriminate: 6 weeks - 7 months
Infants can clearly distinguish + recognise ppl, smiling less at strangers.
Discriminate: 7 months - 11 months
Infant now able to form an attachment with one individual. Shown by distress when gone, happy when return and content when around. Infant may be scared of/avoid strangers
Multiple Attachment: 9 months <
Infant can form many attachments which may have different functions (e.g comfort or play). After 18 months 32% of babies have at least 5.

Question 7

Schaffer and Emerson - Evidence for attachment stages; Method, Results, Conclusion

Answer 7

Method:
- 60 babies were observed in homes in Glasgow (all with mother as main carer)
- every four weeks from birth to 18 months, interviews were conducted with their families
Results:
- Stages of attachment found to occur
- At 8 months, 50 infants had more than one attachment
- 1/2 = mother as primary attachment, 1/3 = father, rest = grandparents or siblings
Conc:
- Infants do form attachment in stages and can eventually attach to many people.
- Quality of care is important for forming attachments, so the infant may not attach to their mother if other ppl respond more accurately to it’s signals

Question 8

Roles of the father - Goodsell and Meldrum

Answer 8

Conducted a large study into the relationship between infants and their fathers, finding those with a secure attachment to their mother are also more likely to have secure attachment to their father

Question 9

Roles of the father - Ross et al

Answer 9

Shows that the number of nappies a father changed was positively correlated to the strength of their attachment. Supported by Caldera (2004) who investigated 60 fathers and mothers and their 14 month-old infants, finding that if fathers were involved in care-giver activities, they were more likely to develop a strong attachment with their child.

Question 10

Roles of mother and father being different - Geiger

Answer 10

Mother relationship = primarily nurturing + caring

Fathers relationship = focused around play