Attachment : Caregiver-Infant Interactions

Question 1

What is an Attachment?

Answer 1

Attachment is an emotional tie or bond between two people, usually a primary caregiver and a child. The relationship is reciprocal (shared), which means that it is a two-way relationship that endures over time.

Question 2

What is Reciprocity?

Answer 2

Reciprocity is when an infant responds to the actions of another person in a form or turn-taking. With reciprocity, the actions of one person (i.e. the primary caregiver) elicits a response from the other (i.e. the infant).

Question 3

what is reciprocity as a caregiver infant interaction?

Answer 3

reciprocity as a caregiver–infant interaction is where the interaction between both individuals flows back and forth.

Question 4

What is Interactional Synchrony?

Answer 4

Interactional synchrony takes place when infants mirror the actions or emotions of another person, for example, their facial expressions. This mirroring can also be referred to as imitation or simply copying the adult’s behaviour.

Question 5

example of Interactional Synchrony?

Answer 5

In this caregiver–infant interaction the child will move their body or carry out the same act as their caregiver simultaneously and the two are said to be synchronized (in ‘sync’)

Question 6

What was the Meltzoff and Moore(1977) study?

Answer 6

Aim: To examine interactional synchrony in infants.

Method: Using a controlled observation, an adult model displayed one of three facial expressions, or a hand gesture. To start with, the child had a dummy placed in his/her mouth to prevent a facial response. Following the display from the adult model, the dummy was removed and the child’s expressions were filmed.

Question 7

What was the result and conclusion of Meltzoff and Moore (1977)

Answer 7

Results: There was a clear association between the infants’ behaviour and that of the adult model. Later research by Meltzoff and Moore (1983) found the same findings in three-day-old infants.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that interactional synchrony is innate and reduces the strength of any claim that imitative behaviour is learned.

Question 8

Evaluation of Caregiver-Infant Interactions?

Answer 8

1. One limitation of research into caregiver–infant interactions is the questionable reliability of testing children. This is because infants move their mouths and wave their arms constantly, which is an issue for researchers investigating intentional behaviour. Therefore, we cannot be certain that the infants were actually engaging in interactional synchrony or reciprocity, as some of the behaviour may have occurred by chance
2. There are methodological problems with studying interactional synchrony using observational methods. There is the possibility of observer bias where the researchers consciously or unconsciously interpret behaviour to support their findings. To address this problem more than one observer should be used to examine the inter-observer reliability of the observations. Recent research by Koepke et al. (1983) failed to replicate the findings of Meltzoff and Moore. This lack of research support suggests that the results of Meltzoff and Moore are unreliable and more research is required to validate their findings.

Question 9

Criticism of Meltzoff and Moore’s research?

Answer 9

A criticism of Meltzoff and Moore’s research is that recent research has found that only securely attached infants engage in interactional synchrony. Isabella et al. (1989) found that the more securely attached the infant, the greater the level of interactional synchrony. This suggests that not all children engage in interactional synchrony and that Meltzoff and Moore’s original findings may have overlooked individual differences which could be a mediating factor.

Question 10

What is Stage 1: Asocial stage (birth to 6 weeks)

Answer 10

An infant shows similar responses to objects and people. Although towards the end of this stage they do display a preference for faces / eyes

Question 11

What is Stage 2 : Indiscriminate Attachment (6 weeks to 7 months)

Answer 11

An infant now shows a preference for human company over non-human company. They can distinguish between different people, but are comforted indiscriminately (by anyone) and do not show stranger anxiety yet.

Question 12

what is Stage 3: Specific Attachment (From 7 to 12 months)

Answer 12

An infant shows a preference for one caregiver, displaying separation and stranger anxiety. The infant looks to a particular person for security and protection. The infant shows joy upon reunion and are comforted by their primary caregiver.

Question 13

What is Stage 4: Multiple Attachment (1+ year onwards)

Answer 13

Attachment behaviours are now displayed towards several different people e.g. siblings, grandparents etc. and are sometimes referred to as secondary attachments. They typically form in the first month after the primary attachment is formed and the number of multiple attachments which develop depends on the social circle to whom the infant is exposed.

Question 14

What was the Shaffer and Emerson(1964) study on attachment

Answer 14

Aim: To examine the formation of early attachments.

Method: Their sample consisted of 60 babies (31 male, 29 female) from working class families in Glasgow aged between 5–23 weeks at the start of the investigation. The researchers visited the babies in their homes, every month for the first 12 months and then once again at 18 months. The researchers interviewed the mothers and observed the children in relation to separation and stranger anxiety in a range of everyday activities.

Question 15

What is the result and conclusion Schaffer and Emerson(1964)

Answer 15

• Results: The results provided some support for the different stages of developing an attachment. At around 25–32 weeks, 50% of the children showed separation anxiety towards their mothers, expected of the discriminate attachment stage. Furthermore, by 40 weeks, 80% of the children had a specific (discriminate) attachment and 30% had started to form multiple attachments.
• Conclusion: The results provide some support for Schaffer’s stages of attachment and suggest that attachment develops through a series of stages across the first year of life.

Question 16

Evaluation of Schaffer and Emerson?

Answer 16

• One strength of Shaffer and Emerson’s research is that it has high external validity. Shaffer and Emerson conducted the observations in each child’s own home which means that the children and parents were more likely to act naturally. Therefore, the study has good external validity as the results are likely to apply to other children from a similar demographic in their own homes

Question 17

Criticism of Schaffer’s research? on the glassgw study

Answer 17

A criticism of Schaffer’s research is that it lacks population validity. The sample consisted of only 60 working class mothers and babies from Glasgow, who may form very different attachments with their infants when compared with wealthier families from other countries. Therefore, we are unable to generalise the results of this study to mothers and babies from other countries and backgrounds as their behaviour might not be comparable.

Shaffer and Emerson’s research is also criticised due to the possibility of social desirability bias. Shaffer and Emerson interviewed the mothers about their children and some of them may not have reported accurate details about their children, to appear like ‘better’ mothers with secure attachments. This could cause a bias in the data that would reduce the internal validity of the findings since natural behaviour will not have been recorded about the stages of attachment.

Question 18

what did Schaffer and Emerson found about the role of the father?

Answer 18

Found that the majority of babies become attached to their mother first.
- 3% of cases the father was the first sole object of attachment
- 27% of cases the father was the joint first object of attachment with the mother.
- 75% of infants studied an attachment was formed with the father by the age of 18 months

Question 19

what did Grossmann do for the support of the role of the father?

Answer 19

Carried out a longitudinal study looking at Parents’ behavior and its relationship to the quality of children’s attachments into their teens.
- research found that quality of attachment with the father was less important in the attachment type of the teenagers than quality of attachment with the mother
- Fathers may be less important in long term emotional development.

Question 20

What is an Evaluation for the Role of the Father ?

Answer 20

• Research evidence that provides support for the role of the father as a ‘playmate’ rather than primary caregiver. Research by Geiger(1996) found that a father’s play interactions were more exciting in comparison to a mothers’. However, the mothers’ play interactions were more affectionate and nuturing. This suggests that the role of the father is in fact as a playmate and not as a sensitive parent who responds to the needs of their children. These results also confirm that the mother takes on a nurturing role.

-Research evidence suggests that fathers are not as equipped as mothers to provide a sensitive and nurturing attachment.

Question 21

What is an Evaluation for Issues and Debates?

Answer 21

Psychologists suggest that caregiver–infant interactions (e.g. reciprocity) are present from birth and therefore are the product of nature. However, such innate behaviours do not act in isolation and interact with the environment (caregivers) to prompt to response (e.g. attention).

Schaffer’s stages of attachment theory takes a nomothetic approach as it proposes a general law for child development. However, such theories are inflexible and do not apply to all children in all cultures. For example, according to Schaffer, single attachments occur before multiple attachments and this is not necessarily the case in all cultures, highlighting an issue with taking a nomothetic approach.

Question 22

What did Tronick do? in his study for recipocity?

Answer 22

• Tronick et al asked mothers who had been enjoying a dialogue with their baby to stop moving and maintain a static, unsmiling expression on their faces.

• Babies would try to tempt the mother into interaction by smiling themselves, and would become puzzled and increasingly distressed when their smile did not provoke the usual response.

Question 23

What are the problems with testing infant behaviour?

Answer 23

• Many studies involving observation of interactions between mothers and infants have shown the same patterns of interaction.
• However, what is being observed is merely hand movements or changes in expression. It is extremely difficult to be certain, based on these observations, what is taking place from the infant’s perspective. Is, for example, the infants imitation of adult signals conscious and deliberate?
• This means that we cannot really know for certain that behaviours seen in mother-infant interaction have a special meaning.

Question 24

Controlled observations - positive points in attachment stuides

Answer 24

• Observations of mother-infant interactions are generally well-controlled procedures, with both mother and infant being filmed, often from multiple angles. This ensures that very fine details of behaviour can be recorded and later analysed.
• Furthermore, babies don’t know or care that they are being observed so their behaviour does not change in response to controlled observation which is generally a problem for observational research.
• This is a strength of this type of research because it means the research has good validity.