Attachment

Question 1

Define attachment?

Answer 1

Infants and caregivers develop deep and lasting emotional bonds. Both members of this emotional relationship seek closeness and feel more secure when close to their attachment figure. The strength of the bonds can be seen in complex two-way caregiver-infant interactions such as reciprocity and interactional synchrony.eh

Question 2

Define reciprocity ?

Answer 2

Reciprocity, similar to a conversation, is a mutual turn-taking form of interaction. Both caregiver and infant contribute to the interaction by responding to the other’s signals and cues.

Question 3

Interactions synchrony

Answer 3

is a simultaneous interaction between the infant and caregiver who appear to be acting rhythmically, with matching, coordinated behaviour and matching emotional states.

Question 4

Define imitation

Answer 4

The infant directly copies the caregiver’s expression.

Question 5

Sensitive responsiveness

Answer 5

The adult caregiver correctly interprets the meaning of the infant’s communication and is motivated to respond appropriately. For example, they provide milk or change a nappy when the infant shows distress.

Question 6

Child direct speech

Answer 6

Child-directed speech (CDS), AKA baby talk: The adult caregiver talks in a “sing-song” tone, modulating their voice by slowing it down and raising the pitch; this voice modulation helps keep the infant’s attention.

Question 7

Define Body Contact

Answer 7

Physical contact, especially skin-to-skin contact, is necessary for bonding, especially in the first few hours of life (i.e. breastfeeding).

Question 8

Meltzoff & Moore

Answer 8

(1977): An experimenter displayed facial gestures such as sticking a tongue out and opening their mouth in shock to 12-21-day-old infants. Recordings of the infant’s responses were rated by people blind to the experiment. It was found infant responses matched the experimenter’s facial expressions. These results suggest the ability to observe and reciprocate through imitation is present from a very early age.

Question 9

Condon & Sander

Answer 9

(1974) videotaped interactions between adults and neonates, focusing on the movements of the neonates in response to adult speech. Using a detailed frame-by-frame analysis of the video recordings, they found evidence of interactional synchrony/coordination between the neonate’s movements and the rhythmic patterns of the adult’s speech. These results suggest even from birth, humans have an innate ability for social interaction.

Answer 10

Many studies use multiple observers, blind to the true aims of the experiment to provide inter-rater reliability or even use complex camera systems to document and slow down micro-sequences of interactions between caregivers and infants. This high control of infant studies indicates high internal validity.

Answer 11

Infants cannot directly communicate their thoughts or emotions. Therefore, findings in Caregiver-infant interaction research depend on inferences, which are considered unscientific. Inferences are assumptions about infants’ internal mental states based on observed behaviour. However, inferences could be mistaken; for example, researchers should

Answer 12

Social sensitivity is a concern when investigating childrearing techniques, including norms around caregiver-infant interactions; some women may find their life choices criticised, such as mothers who decide to return to the workplace shortly after giving birth and cannot develop a high level of interactional synchrony with their infant.

Question 13

Stage 1 of attachment

Answer 13

Asocial; 0-6 weeks: Babies display innate behaviours (crying/smiling) that ensure proximity to any potential caregiver.
As their perceptual ability is limited, they will also display these behaviours to non-human objects. Anyone can comfort them, as they do not prefer any individual caregiver.

Question 14

Stage 2

Answer 14

Indiscriminate attachment; 6 weeks-7months: Infants develop the ability to tell the difference between humans and objects and between familiar and unfamiliar individuals, smiling more at the people they see frequently. However, they do not yet show stranger anxiety (distress at the presence of a stranger) or separation anxiety. (distress at the absence of a primary caregiver)

Question 15

Stage 3

Answer 15

Specific attachment; 7-9 months: Babies form a strong attachment to a primary caregiver, most often their mother. It is in this stage that separation anxiety and stranger anxiety develop.

Answer 16

Multiple attachment; 9/10+ months: The infant starts to form attachments with other regular caregivers (like fathers, grandparents, siblings), and stranger anxiety starts to decrease.