attachment - cg/infant interactions Flashcards
what is attachment?
a close two way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security. two people seek closeness and feel more secure in the presence of the attachment figure
what are features of attachment?
selective, separation protest, stranger anxiety, secure based behaviour, proximity, provide security and comfort
what is secure based behaviour?
even when we are away from our attachment figure, we tend to make regular contact with them
what is proximity?
desire to be near to each other
what is reciprocity?
when the cg and the baby responds to each others signals and each elicts a response, this can be different behaviour
what is interactional synchrony?
when the cg and the baby reflect both actions and emotions of the other, this is the same behaviour as they mirror each other
what did Feldman say about reciprocity?
Feldman (2007) - mothers respond to infants 2/3 of the time. around 3 months, this interaction tends to be increasingly frequent and involves close attention to each others verbal signals and facial expressions
why are cg/infant interactions important?
babies have meaningful interactions with carers which are important functions for the child’s social development. babies have alert phases in which they signal they are ready for interaction
what are alert phases?
babies signal they are ready for interaction
what is active involvement?
traditional views state that babies have a passive role in attachment however it seems babies take on a very active role as both cg and baby can initiate interations
what did Brazelton say about cg/infant interactions?
described interactions as a “dance” where they both respond to the others moves
describe Meltzoff and Moore’s study into attachment
1977- an adult displayed one out of three gestures and the baby’s response was filmed and observed. babies expressions were more likely to mirror those of adults more than chance would predict
describe Isabella’s study into attachment
1989- observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed the degree of synchrony. they found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment
discuss filmed observations as a strength of cg/infant interactions
observations are filmed in a laboratory. this means any other activity, extraneous variables, that could effect the baby were controlled.
also they were filmed so observations can be rewatched so no key behaviour will be missed.
having filmed interactions means inter-rater reliability can be established.
this means data has good reliability and validity
discuss difficulty observing babies as a limitation of cg/infant interactions
it is hard to predict a baby’s behaviour.
young babies lack co-ordination and much of their body is immobile.
the movements being observed are just small movements or subtle changes in expression so it is difficult to determine what is taking place from the baby’s perspective.
this means we cannot be certain that behaviour seen in cg/infant interactions has a special meaning
discuss developmental importance as a limitation of cg/infant interactions
observing behaviour does not tell us its developmental importance.
Feldman(2012) states that ideas like synchrony simply give names to patterns of observable cg and baby behaviours.
this means we cannot be certain from observational behaviour alone that reciprocity and synchrony are important for a child’s development
discuss the counterpoint to developmental importance as a limitation of cg/baby interactions
there is evidence that early interactions are important. for example, Isabella(1989) found that achievement of interactional synchrony predicted the development of a good quality attachment. this means that cg/infant interactions are probably important for early development
