Attachment

Question 1

Define the term ‘attachment’

Answer 1

an enduring emotional bond between two people in which each seeks closeness and feels more secure in the presence of the attachment figure

Question 2

define the term ‘interactional synchrony’

Answer 2

when a caregiver and baby act in such a way that their emotions and actions mirror each other

Question 3

define the term ‘reciprocity’

Answer 3

when each person responds to the other’s signals (turn taking), and each person’s behaviour elicits a response from the other

Question 4

Give information about alert phases and active role in regards to reciprocity

Answer 4

Alert phases

• babies have periodic alert phases which signal they are ready for interaction
• mothers pick up on and respond to infant alertness 2/3 of time (Feldman, Eidelman 2007)

Active role

• both mothers and infant can initiate interaction and they appear to take turns (Feldman 2007)
• most time, baby takes on active role in initiating interactions

Question 5

Outline one study into interactional synchrony (M+M)

Answer 5

Meltzoff + Moore (1977)

• observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants as long as 2 weeks old
• adult displayed one of three emotions/ gestures e.g. sticking tongue out
• child’s response filmed and identified by independent observer
• association found between expression/ gesture made by adult and the actions of the baby

Question 6

Outline one study into interactional synchrony (I)

Answer 6

Isabella et al (1989)

• observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed their degree of synchrony
• researchers also assessed the quality of mother-infant attachment
• found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality attachments

Question 7

Evaluate caregiver infant studies

Answer 7

P) + WELL CONTROLLED PROCEDURES
E) e.g. activities observed in laboratory with cameras set up
E) ensures researchers can record observations and analyse multiple times
D) filmed interactions means more than one observer can record data - allows inter-observer reliability to be established
L) data collected in caregiver-infant studies high reliability and validity

Question 8

Outline Schaffer and Emerson’s (1964) stages of attachment study

Answer 8

(1964)
AIM
- To investigate how early attachments are formed and at what age they develop

PROCEDURE

• 60 babies (31 males, 29 females) from Glasgow, most from working middle class
• Observational study
• Babies and mum visited at home every day for first year, and at 18 months
• Researches measured 2 things:
  1) Separation anxiety - what babies show when separated from parents
  2) Stranger anxiety - infant anxiety response to unfamiliar situations