Attachment: Caregiver-infant interactions

Question 1

Attachment

Answer 1

Attachment can be defined as an emotional relationship between two people in which each seeks closeness and feels more secure when in the presence of the attachment figure

Question 2

Reciprocity

Answer 2

Mothers and babies interact and get a response from one another - turn taking

Question 3

Tronik (1975) - still face experiment

Answer 3

Mother and baby interact normally, then the mother stops responding the the baby becomes distressed, suggesting that when the usual signs of attachment are broken, the baby becomes upset

Question 4

Meltzoff and Moore (1997)

Answer 4

Observation of adults and babies, where adults displayed one of three facial expressions and there was an association found between the expression and the action of the baby, which suggests that babies respond to facial expressions from a young age

Question 5

Parent-infant attachment

Answer 5

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that the majority of babies become attached to their mother first, at around 7 months, and then become attached to a secondary figure a few weeks/months later - 75% of babies attach to their father by 18 months

Question 6

Research suggesting the role of the father is important

Answer 6

Field (1978) found that primary caregiver fathers spent more time with their baby than secondary caregiver fathers, and so it is responsiveness, not gender, that affects attachment
Grossman (2002) found that the father plays an important role in stimulation and play rather than nurturing

Question 7

Research suggesting the role of the father is not important

Answer 7

Grossman (2002) found that the quality of infants’ attachment to mothers (but not to fathers) is related to attachments in adolescence
MacCallum and Golombok (2004) found that growing up without a father figure as a secondary caregiver does not make a difference to a child’s development

Question 8

Strengths of research into caregiver-infant interactions

Answer 8

Research supports it - Tronik, Meltzoff and Moore, Grossman, Field, MacCallum and Golombok
Well controlled experiments
Babies do not know they are being observed so their behaviour does not change
Practical application - research can be used to improve parenting techniques

Question 9

Weaknesses of research into caregiver-infant interactions

Answer 9

Observations - it is unclear if babies’ hand movements and expressions really have special meaning as we don’t know if they are conscious and deliberate or not
Inconsistent findings - different researchers want to find different things and so cannot definitively answer what the father’s role is