Attachment - knowledge gaps Flashcards
define the term reciprocity (2)
- describes the interaction between mother and infant as a two way process
- mother and imfant respond to eachother and elicit a response from eachother
define the term interactional synchrony (1)
- mother and infant interact in a way that their actions mirror one another
who conducted research into recirpocity and interactional synchrony ? (1)
Meltzoff and Moore
describe the procedure and findings of Meltzoff and Moore (3)
procedure:
- mother displayed 1 of 3 gestures or facial expression
- response of baby filmed from diff angles
findings
- association between expression/ gestures displayed and response of child
what is meant by the term alert phase ? (2)
- babies signal to mother they want to interact
- mothers pick up on and repond to this 2/3 of time
who conducted research into the importance of interactional synchrony ? (1)
isabella
describe the procedure and findings of the research done by isabella (3)
porcedure:
- observed 20 mothers
- assesed degree of interactional synchyrony and quality of mother infant attachment
findings:
- higher lvls of interactional synchrony associated with better quality mother infant attachment
give a limitation of the caregiver interaction theory (1)
low usefulness
provides details about interactional synchrony and reciprocity themselves but no explanation on why this happense
who conducted research on and came up with the stages of attachment ? (1)
Shauffer and Emerson
describe the procedure and findings of the research done by Shauffer and Emerson (7)
procedure:
- 60 babies (31 male, 29 female)
- from working class families in Glasgow
- longitudinal study
- infants and mothers visited at home every month for a year and again at 18 months
- researcher asked mother about kind of protest infant showed when they were absent from infant (seperation anxiety) and in the presence of a stranger (stranger anxiety)
Findings
- 50% babies showed separation anxiety towards mother between 25 and 32 weeks of age
- By age 40 weeks – 80% had specific attachments and 30% displayed multiple attachments
what are the 4 stages of attachment ? (4)
- Asocial stage
- indiscriminate stage
- specific attachment stage
- multiple attachments stage
describe the indiscriminate attachment stage (5)
- 2 months to 7months
- more social behavior displayed
- prefer humans to inanimate objects
- start to show preference for familiar adults
- dont experience stranger or seperation anxiety
describe the specific attachment stage (3)
- 7 months to 1 year
- formed a sepcific attachment (to primary CG)
- stranger and seperation anxiety experienced
describe the multiple attachment stage (2)
- 1yr onwards
- extend attachment to mutiple adults
give 2 strengths if the stages of attachment (2)
- high validity - natural env + babies dk they are being observed
- longitudinal study - any anomalies unlikely to last this long
give limitations 2 (there are 3 availible) of the stages of attachment
- sample - small, all from glasgow, all from working class families
- relies on self report methods - mothers may lie, forget, social desiribility bias, dont pick up on trivial details
- stages are reductionist - breaks down attachment into seperation and stranger anxiety only - no other factors considered
who conducted research or has gathered findings into the role of the father as a secondary caregiver/ attachment figure ? (2)
- Grossman
- shauffer and emerson
who conducted research into the role of the father as a primary caregiver ? (1)
Field
describe the findings and conclusion of Grossman (2)
Findings:
- quality of play of fathers associated to quality of attachment in adolesence
Conclusion:
- fathers and mothers roles are equally as important but mother has role centred around nurtur whereas father has role centresed around play
give a strength of the role of the father
NATURE NURTURE DEBATE PROVIDES VALID EVIDENCE FOR WHY FATHERS DON’T USUALLY BECOME PRIMARY CG’S
In terms of nature: women have oestrogen - makes then more nurturing so they are biologically predisposed *to being primary CG
in terms of nurture: we grow up in an env of traditional gender roles where women are expected to be more nurturing and caring than men
what did shauffer and emerosn find on the role of the father (2) as a secondary caregiver ?
- majority of babies attach to mother first
- by age 18months 75% of infant’s attachment to father shown
describe the procedure, findings and concluison of Field’s research (3)
procedure:
- Observed and compared primary caregiver fathers, primary caregiver mother and secondary caregiver fathers
findings:
- primary caregiver fathers like mothers, spend more time smiling, imitating and holding hands
conclusions:
- Key to primary attachment figure is level of responsiveness not gender of parent
give a limitation of the role of the father as a secondary caregiver
importance if role of father as secondary attachment figure (as proposed by Grossman) questioned
children growing up in single sex or single parent homes dont develop diff to those who have both parents each diff genders
