Attachment Flashcards
What is attachment
An attachment is a close two-way emotional bond between two individuals where each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security
What are the features of attachment
- infant seek proximity trying to stay near
-both cargive and infant feel distressed when separated
-both the infant and care giver feel pleasure when reunited
What is reciprocity
A care giver infant interactions. It is a two way or mutual process where each individual responds to the others signals to sustain the interaction
What is interactional synchrony
When a caregiver and infant reflect the actions and emotions of the other in a coordinated way. They mirror each other
What is a study of infant caregiver interactions
Meltzoff and Moore
Evaluation of care giver infant interactions
- hard to know what is happening when observing babies
-controlled observations capture fine detail - no demand characteristics - practical issues- babies are usually being fed or asleep
A study to show fathers are not psychologically biologically and socially equipped
Hardy found fathers were less likely to be able to detect low levels of infant distress compared to mothers
Study that supports fathers are not care givers they are playmates
Geiger found that a fathers play interactions were more exciting in comparisons to a mother
Study that supports fathers can demonstrate sensitive responsiveness
Easterbrook and Goldberg provided evidence that infants who were securely attached to their fathers would demonstrate optimal behaviour in problem solving. Compared to insecure father attached infants.
Who identified stages of attachment
Schaffer
What did Schaffer and Emerson aim to investigate
The formation of early attachments, in particular the age they developed, their emotional intensity and to whom they were directed
What was the sample size of their experiment
60 babies
31 boys and 29 girls
What was their experiment
Went to houses and observed the mum and child. They gave their mother a questionnaire every month adding reliability
They looked at stranger and separation anxiety
What were their finding
-Attachment tended to be the care giver which was most interactive and sensitive to signals and needs
- most infants started to show separation protest when parted from their attachment figure between 6-8 months with stranger anxiety being shown 1 month later
-by 40 weeks 80% babies had specific attachment and 30% multiple attachments. By 18 months 87% had at least 2 attachments
What are the 4 stages of attachments
-asocial
-Indiscriminate attachment
-specific attachment
-multiple attachment