ATTACHMENT - Caregiver-infant interactions & development of attachment,

Question 1

Explain reciprocity in context of caregiver-infant interactions? (2marks)

Answer 1

Reciprocal means 2 ways. Reciprocity is a mutual responsiveness between adult and infant where they both produce a response ineach other. An example could be the baby smiling and the adult smiling in response

Question 2

Explain Interactional Synchrony in context of caregiver-infant reactions? (2marks)

Answer 2

When people interact they mirror each others movements and expressions. Interactional synchrony is when infant imitates the actions of care giver or vice versa. from seeing this adult may know how to respond to child. e.g. adult smiles and kid copies and smiles.

BACK UP : Jaffe showed they coordinate this movement in a sort of rhythm/conversation.

Question 3

Outline one study of caregiver-infant reactions? (4 marks)

Answer 3

Meltzoff and Moore

4 stimuli (3 facial expressions and a hand gesture) and observed infant responses. Their responses were recorded and observed by different people who didn’t know what the infant had seen. They were asked to note all instances of tongue movements and head movements (e.g. mouth opening) Results: found that infants copy actions of caregiver and show interactional synchrony.

Question 4

Outline a study into stages /development of attachment? (6 marks)

Answer 4

Schaffer and Emerson(1964) conducted a study into development of attachment. 60 babies from working class homes in Glasgow were studied. At the start infants ranged from 5 to 23 weeks of age. They were studied until they were 1 year old.

Mothers were visited every 4 weeks and reported their infants response to separation in seven everyday situations (eg being left alone in a room)

Also asked to describe intensity of their distress (amount they cried etc).

finally they were asked who the protest was aimed at. (tested separation anxiety, Stranger Anxiety and social referencing which is who they blame)

RESULTS: they developed 4 stages: asocial stage (0-6 weeks) indiscriminate stage (6 weeks - 7 months) discriminate stage (7-9months) and multiple attachments (10 months onwards)

Question 5

List the 4 stages of attachment?

Answer 5

Asocial (0 - 6 weeks).
Indiscriminate attachments (6 weeks to 7 months).
Specific attachment (7 - 9 months)
Multiple attachment (10 months and onwards)

Question 6

Explain the Asocial stageof attachment

Answer 6

Asocial (0 - 6 weeks). Very young infants are asocial in that many kinds of stimuli, both social and non-social, produce a favourable reaction, such as a smile.

Question 7

Explain the Indiscriminatestageof attachment

Answer 7

Indiscriminate attachments (6 weeks to 7 months). Infants indiscriminately enjoy human company and most babies respond equally to any caregiver. They get upset when an individual ceases to interact with them. From 3 months infants smile more at familiar faces and can be easily comfortable by a regular caregiver.

Question 8

Explain the Specific Attachment stageof attachment

Answer 8

Specific attachment (7 - 9 months) - Special preference for a single attachment figure. The baby looks to particular people for security, comfort and protection. It shows fear of strangers (stranger fear) and unhappiness when separated from a special person (separation anxiety). Some babies show stranger fear and separation anxiety much more frequently and intensely than others, but nevertheless they are seen as evidence that the baby has formed an attachment.

Question 9

Explain the Multiple attachment stageof attachment

Answer 9

Multiple attachment (10 months and onwards) - The baby becomes increasingly independent and forms several attachments. By 18 months the majority of infants have formed multiple attachments.

Question 10

Give 4 evaluation points for the stages/development of attachment?

Answer 10

1) Unreliable data: Used questionnaire and interviewing techniques,
2) Biased sample: From a scotting working class population and therefore cant generalise
3) Cultural variations: There are many cultural variations in attachment as individualistic cultures tend to care more for family whereas collectivist ones care about society
4) Are multiple attachments relevant? Bowlbys theory suggests monotropy and that secondary attachment figures are not important

Question 11

Discuss the role of the father

Answer 11

AO1 - Western culture new role of father as primary attachment figure.

• Schaffer and Emerson found fathers are far less likely to be the primary attachment figure compared to mothers. This may be due to the time spent together. Lamb (1997) reported that studies have shown little relationship between father accessibility (time) and infant - father attachment.
• Another explanation is that fathers are less emotionally equipped to form bonds. They lack the emotional sensitivity which Bowlby argued was very important. Females also produce Oestrogen which causes them to be more sensitive emotionally equipped.
• However, whereas mothers usually adopt a more caregiving and nurturing role compared to father, fathers adopt a more play-mate role than mothers. For example, fathers are more likely than mothers to encourage risk taking in their children by engaging them in physical games.