Attachment

Question 1

Define attachment

Answer 1

Attachment begins with the interactions between infants and their caregivers. It’s the responsiveness of the caregiver to the infants signals that has profound effects

Question 2

Explain caregiver-infant interactions

Answer 2

Meaningful social interactions between infants and caregivers have important functions for the child’s social development, in particular the caregiver-infant interactions

Question 3

Explain reciprocity

Answer 3

An action is reciprocal when each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them
Mothers respond to their babies alert phases 2/3 times, this interaction is more frequent at around 3 months (baby takes on an active role)

Question 4

Explain interactional synchrony

Answer 4

2 people are synchronised when they carry out the same action simultaneously. It’s the temporal co-ordination or micro level social behaviour
(Mother and infants interactions mirror each other)

Question 5

What’s the aim of Meltzoff and Moore (1977)s research

Answer 5

To examine international synchrony in infants

Question 6

Outline Meltzoff and Moore (1977)s procedure

Answer 6

Using a controlled observation, an adult model displayed 1/3 facial expressions/ hand gestures. The babies responses to this behaviour was recorded and observed

Question 7

Outline Meltzoff and Moore’s IS findings

Answer 7

There was a clear association between the infants behaviour and that of the adult model
Later research (1983) found the same findings in 3-day old infants

Question 8

Meltzoff and Moores IS research conclusion

Answer 8

These findings suggest that interactional synchrony is innate and reduces the strength of any claim that animative behaviour is learned

Question 9

Parent-infant attachment (Schafer and Emerson 1964)

Answer 9

Ajority of infants become attached to their mother first at around 7 months
Within a few weeks they form secondary attachments to other family members
75% of infants, attachment to father was formed by 18 months (baby cried when father walked away)

Question 10

Role of the father- Grossman (2002)

Answer 10

Longitudinal study looking at both parents behaviour and its relationship to the quality of children’s attachments into their teens
Quality of infant attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to children’s attachments in adolescence suggesting the father was less important
However, quality of fathers play with infants was related to the quality of adolescent attachments
So fathers play a different role in attachment, (play and stimulation rather than nurture)