Attachment Flashcards
What are the two caregiver-infant interactions in humans?
Reciprocity and Interactional synchrony
What is reciprocity?
Interactions between caregivers and infant involving a two way/mutual responsiveness i.e. interactions flow back and forth between the attachment figure and baby
What is interactional synchrony?
Interactions between caregiver and infant are ‘synchronised’ so that their responses reflect each other. They respond in time to sustain communications
What are the 4 key behaviours to show attachments identified by Maccoby?
Seeking proximity by child and PAF
Distress on separation (anxiety)
Pleasure when reunited
General orientation of behaviour towards PAF
What are three strengths of the caregiver-infant interactions in humans theory?
-Research evidence to support the concept of reciprocity (Tronick ‘still face’)
-Research evidence to support the concept of interactional synchrony (Meltzoff + Moore)
-Practical applications from the ‘still face’ experiment
What are two weaknesses of the caregiver-infant interactions in humans theory?
-Research may be socially sensitive (role of the father has changed and this theory is very stereotypical)
-Explanation may be incomplete (other caregivers play an important role in the development of infants)
What was the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson’s research study?
It was a longitudinal study completed in Scotland that followed the development of attachments in 60 infants. Using naturalistic observations the infants were observed every 4 weeks for up to 1 year and then observed once more at 18 months
What two ways was attachment measured in Schaffer and Emerson’s?
By assessing the levels of separation protest and levels of stranger anxiety
What is the levels of separation protest and how where they measured?
How the infants reacted to being separated from attachment figures. It was measured by asking mothers to describe the intensity of any protest when an infant was left in 7 everyday situations, which was then rated on a 4 point scale
What were the results of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
At 6-8 months, 50% of children showed their first specific attachment and this tended to be the mother. By 10 months, 50% had more than one attachment (father, grandparents, older siblings) - by 18 months this was up to 87%.
What conclusions could you draw from Schaffer and Emerson’s research?
As there’s common patterns in the development of attachment bonds us biologically determined. Attachment bonds are likely to be formed with people who show sensitivity and responsiveness and correctly interpret the babies signals about their needs not who physically cares for them. Multiple attachments are the norm
What are the four stages of development suggested by Schaffer and in what months do they tend to take place?
-Asocial stage (0-3months)
-Indiscriminate attachment stage(3-7 months)
-Discriminate attachment stage (7-8 months)
-Multiple attachments (9-10 months)
What happened during the Asocial stage of a child’s development?
Infant produces similar responses to objects and people with no specific preferences
What happens during the indiscriminate attachment stage of a child’s development?
Babies become more sociable, can tell people apart and prefer to be in human company
What happens in the discriminate attachment stage of a child’s development?
Infants begin to show separation anxiety and stranger anxiety. They show a strong attachment and preference to one individual
What happens in the multiple attachments stage of a child’s development?
The baby now makes several attachments to important people in their life
What is two strengths of Shaffer’s development stages?
-Developed from results of a research study by Schaffer and Emerson
-Practical applications- can lead to early intervention to encourage the caregivers to form an attachment
What are two weaknesses of Schaffer’s development stages?
-Culturally specific and limited to describing an individualist concept
-Methodologically flawed (Schaffer and Emersons research study)-all working class Ps
What is the traditional role of the father in a child’s attachment development?
Fathers have been seen as playing a minor role in the parenting of their children. Traditionally, mothers stayed at home and fathers went to work therefore the mother was usually the primary caregiver and became the primary attachment
What is the modern role of the father in a child’s attachment development?
Mothers are far more likely yo work (71.2% working mothers in 2020) and stay at home dads are on the rise. This means that the role of the father in attachments needs to be re-examined
What aspects should you consider when regarding the role of the father?
-It’s possible that there are mediating factors that relate to the type of attachment a father has with his children such as the interactions, accessibility(how physically and emotionally available he is), and the responsibility (the extent to which he takes on ‘caretaking tasks’
What did Grossman (2002) research and what did he find?
He conducted a longitudinal study of 44 families comparing the role of fathers’ and mothers’ contribution to their children’s attachment experiences at 6, 10, and 16 years old. They found that the quality of mother-child attachment was important but that was not the case when examining the attachment of the father-child suggesting the father role is less important. However, it did find that the quality of father’s play was related to the quality of attachment suggesting the father role is more of a stimulatory one.
What did Field (1978) research and what did he find?
He conducted research which compared the behaviours of primary caretaker mothers with primary and secondary caretaker fathers. Face-to-face interactions were analysed from video footage with infants at 4 months of age. They found that fathers who were primary attachment figures acted in very similar ways to mothers who were primary attachment figures towards their children showing more smiling etc. than secondary caretaker fathers. This suggests that fathers are able, if required, to take on the more caring, nurturing role usually associated with the mother
Who researched into the sensitivity of the role of the father and what did they find?
Hardy - suggests that fathers are less able than mothers to detect low levels of infant distress, which suggests males are less suitable as primary caregivers. But, Lamb (1987) found that fathers who became the primary caregiver quickly develop more sensitivity to children’s needs which suggests that sensitive responsiveness isn’t a biological ability limited to woman
Who researched into the biological differences of fathers and mother caregivers?
frodi - showed videotapes of infants crying and found no difference in the physiological responses if men and women, suggesting that biological factors may not explain the gender differences in attachment relationships between parents and infants
Who researched into the different roles of the father and mother?
Geiger - Showed that fathers’ play interactions are more exciting and pleasurable than mothers, while mothers are more nurturing and affectionate which supports the idea of fathers being playmates rather than caregivers, complementing the mother roles in child’s development
What are two strengths of the roles of the father in a child’s attachment(role of the father)?
-Supporting research - Geiger
-Practical applications - recognising the importance of fathers may lead to new laws around the fathers rights and paternity leave
What are two weaknesses of the roles of the father in child’s attachment (role of the father)?
-Conclusions of research may be socially sensitive - research suggests a child must have a mother and a father, what about same sex couples? single parents?
-Some research suggests that the role of the father is unnecessary as there are single-parent families doing just fine and same-sex couples
What is imprinting - the method used by Lorenz
Imprinting is a phenomenon observed in the natural world and describes the process by which young animals follow and form an attachment to the first large moving object they meet
What was the aim of Lorenz’s study?
To investigate the mechanism of imprinting
What was the IV and DV of Lorenz study?
IV- Whether, when hatched they saw their mother goose or Lorenz as the first moving object
DV- Imprinting behaviour/time taken to imprint/time at which imprinting could no longer occur
What was the procedure of Lorenz study?
12 eggs were used in the study. 6 were placed under a goose mother while Lorenz kept the other 6 incubated and made sure he was the first moving thing they saw. Lorenz imitated a mother goose’s quacking sounds. He observed their behaviour. Lorenz marked all the goslings so they knew which batch they were from. He put all the goslings together under an upturned box and allowed them to mix. He varied the time between birth and seeing a moving object so he could measure the critical period for imprinting
What were the results of Lorenz’s study?
Critical period for this imprinting to occur between 4 and 25 hours after hatching. The box was moved and the naturally hatched goslings went straight to the goose and the incubated goslings went to Lorenz
What was the conclusion of Lorenz’s study?
The concept of a critical period for forming attachments, as shown in this study, has been carried over to theories of human attachment and the fact that the adult geese imprinted on humans later tried to mate with humans suggesting that imprinting is important for later relationships as well as for short-term survival
What are two strengths of Lorenz study?
Applications- shows how important primary attachment figures are
Standardised procedure in a highly controlled environment
