Attachment - Caregiver-infant intraction Flashcards
What is attachment?
Attachment is when two people develop long, lasting emotional bonds. Both members seek closeness and feel more secure when close to their attachment figure e.g Caregivers and infants.
How can we see the strength of the bonds?
The strength of these bonds can be seen through reciprocity and interactional synchrony.
What is reciprocity?
Reciprocity is a mutual TURN TAKING form of interaction. Both the caregiver and infant contribute to the interaction by responding to each other’s signals and cues.
What is Interactional synchrony?
Interactional synchrony is a SIMULTANEOUS interaction between the caregiver and the infant who appear to be acting rhythmically with matching emotional states.
What are the other forms of interactions?
Imitation- when the infant directly copies the caregiver’s facial expressions
Sensitive responsiveness - when the adult correctly interprets the meaning of the infant’s speech and responds appropriately
Child-directed speech - baby talk which helps keep the childs attention
Body contact - physical contact especially skin-to-skin is essential for bonding especially in the first few hours of life
what is the role of the father?
the role of the father was one that has more to do with play and stimulation than nurture
Evidence supporting role of father?
Grossman did a longitudinal study on the quality of child attachment in teens based on the quality of both parents’ attachment and found fathers were not related to the quality of attachment in teens however the quality of the fathers play suggested the role of the father was one that has more to do with play and stimulation than nurture
Strength of intro to attachment
P: Research support
E: Meltzoff & Moore experiment displaying facial gestures and recordings of infants (around 12-21 days old) responses rated by the public found babies responses matched facial expressions
E: This suggests the ability to reciprocate through imitation is present from a very young age
L: Therefore supporting …
Strength 2 into to attachment
P: Done in a Highly controlled environment
E: Observations are usually completed in lab environments with well-controlled procedures and cameras filming multiple angles
E: This ensures that very fine details of behaviours are captured
L: Therefore the research has high validity
Weakness 1 intro to attachment
P: Not a scientific method
E: Infants cannot communicate thoughts and emotions, so findings depend on the researcher’s inferences.
E: These inferences can be mistaken
L: Therefore we cannot be sure the research is valid
Weakness 2 : Intro to attachment
P: Socially sensitive research
E: Psychological findings on caregiver-infant interactions are usually published in newspapers and books which can see caregiver’s life choices criticised
E: Such as mothers who go straight back to work after having a baby and supposedly cannot develop high levels of interactional synchrony
L: This shows research can ;lead to negative effects for certain groups in society
Strength 1 : ROLE OF THE FATHER
P: Unique role
E: Paquette’s ( 2004) research suggests fathers engage in more physically stimulating play which encourages risk-taking and emotional control
E: findings emphasise the distinct and valuable role of the father complementing the mothers’ role
L: Therefore showing …
Weakness 1: ROLE OF THE FATHER
P: Inconsistent findings
E: As some studies like Lambs(1987) suggest fathers are crucial for certain aspects of child’s emotional and social development whereas others like Golombok et al do not
E: These inconsistent findings complicate the development of universial theories and policies
L: Therefore we cannot be sure whether the father’s role is important.
Weakness 2 : ROLE OF THE FATHER
P: Gender Bias
E: Studies portray mothers as primary careers & fathers as secondary, which may reflect societal expectations rather than objective differences in parenting roles
E: These biases can skew findings and limit the application to modern family dynamics
L: Suggesting that future research should consider changing dynamics.
