Attachments L1 - 4 Flashcards
Attachment:
An affectional tie that one person or animal forms between himself and another specific one, binding them together in space and over time
Indicative behaviours of an attachment:
1) Seeking proximity
2) Distress on separation
3) Joy on reunion
4) General orientation towards each other
Infancy:
Period of a child’s life before speech begins (1st/2nd yr)
2 main types of caregiver-infant interactions:
1) Reciprocity
2) Interactional synchrony
Reciprocity:
An interaction where each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them
What did Feldman and Eidelman (2007) research show?
Mothers typically pick up on and respond to infant alertness around 2/3 of the time
What is infant alertness?
Babies have periodic ‘alert phases’ and signal they are ready for interaction
From around how many months does this interaction become increasingly frequent, what does it involve and who researched this?
- Around 3 months
- Close attention to each other’s verbal signals and facial expressions
- Feldman 2007
Give an example of a reciprocated interaction
A baby smiles and their caregiver also smiles
What research demonstrated reciprocity and how did it do this?
Research in 1970s showed infants to coordinate their actions w/ caregivers, as if they were taking turns
What did Brazelton et al (1975) describe this reciprocity as and why?
As a dance as each person responds to each other’s moves
What did Brazelton (1979) suggest?
- Basic rhythm is an important precursor to later communications
- Regularity of an infant’s signals allows caregiver to anticipate their behaviour
- Sensitivity to infant behaviour is foundation for later attachment between them
Interactional synchrony:
- Temporal coordination of micro-level social behaviour
- Reflection of what the other is doing
Who investigated interactional synchrony?
Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
Procedure of Meltzoff and Moore (1977) study:
Controlled observation of infants’ behaviour:
1) Adult model displayed 4 diff stimuli (3 diff faces + hand gesture) where fingers move in a sequence
2) Dummy placed in infant’s mouth to prevent response during display
3) Dummy removed after display w/ child’s expression filmed on vid
4) Observers watched videotapes of infant’s behaviour in real time, slow motion and frame by frame if needed
5) Then judged by independent observers who had no knowledge of what infant had seen
6) Had to record behaviour under categories of mouth protrusion, termination of mouth protrusion, tongue protrusion and termination of tongue protrusion
7) Each observer scored tapes twice (to calculate intra and inter-observer reliability)
Findings of Meltzoff and Moore study:
- Association between infant behaviour and adult model’s behaviour
- All scores of both the intra-observer and inter-observer reliability were greater than 0.92
- Infants as young as 2 or 3 weeks imitated special facial gestures
What results were found in a later study and what conclusion can be made from this?
- Same synchrony was shown w/ infants only 3 days old
- Interactional synchrony is likely to be innate rather (inborn) than learned
Give one study evaluating interactional synchrony:
- Piaget (1962)
- Argued infants cannot imitate intentionally and are rather doing pseudo-imitation
- True imitation only happens after the child was a year old
Pseudo-imitation:
Copying because there’s a reward
Explain features of each behavioural category in Meltzoff and Moore study:
- Mouth protrusion: Abrupt jaw drop
- Termination of mouth protrusion: Return of mouth to closed resting position
- Tongue protrusion: Forward thrust
- Termination of tongue protrusion: Retraction of tip of tongue
What study supported Meltzoff and Moore’s study?
Murray and Trevarthen (1985)
Procedure of Murray and Trevarthen (1985) study:
- 2 month old infants interacted via video monitor w/ mother in real time
- Video monitor played tape of mother so that image on screen was not responding to infants’ facial and bodily gestures
Results and conclusion of Murray and Trevaethen (1985) study:
- Acute distress
- Turned away, showing infant is eliciting a response rather than doing it for a reward (disproving pseudo-imitation)
Strengths and weaknesses of caregiver-infant interactions through reciprocity and interactional synchrony:
+ Value of research
- Problems with testing infant behaviour
- Conflicting research evidence
- Is behaviour intentional or just imitation?
- Individual differences
What are the problems with testing infant behaviour and how were these issues overcome?
- Unreliable as infant mouths are in fairly constant motion + expressions that are tested occur frequently
- Meltzoff and Moore asked an independent judge to view babies tapes without knowing what infant had seen, increasing internal validity
Which studies failed to replicate the study done by Meltzoff and Moore?
- Koepke et al (1985)
- Marian et Al (1986)
What did Meltzoff argue about Koepke’s study?
Said it was not controlled carefully enough
How did Marian’s study fail to replicate and what criticism is there of this?
- Infants could not distinguish live interactions from the videotapes of the mother
- Marian argued the problem may lie w/ procedure rather than baby’s ability to imitate
What study aimed to show the intentions of infants?
Abravenal and DeYoung (1991)
Procedure, results and conclusion of Abraneval and DeYoung (1991) study:
- Observed infant behaviour when interacting w/ 2 inanimate objects w/ same behavioural categories
- Found infants between 5 and 12 weeks made little response
- Shows babies don’t just imitate what they see and rather it is a social response
Which studies shows individual differences in infant behaviour?
- Isabella et al (1989)
- Heimann (1989)
Results of Isabella et al (1989) study:
More strongly attached infant-caregiver pairs showed greater interactional synchrony
Results of Heimann (1989) study (+ evaluation) :
- Infants demonstrating a lot of imitation found to have better quality relationships at 3 months
- Cause and effect issue: Does imitation cause interactional synchrony or are other factors involved?
How does research into these caregiver-infant interactions have value?
- ‘Like me’ hypothesis (Meltzoff 2005) : Baby associates imitation w/ feelings + thoughts of others, which leads them to understand how others think and feel (Theory of Mind) and thus are able to construct relationships
- Shows how it forms basis of social development
Give an example of a synchronised interaction
Baby moves its head in rhythm w/ mother
Who studied how an attachment develops, in what year and what did they come up with?
- Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
- 4 specific stages of attachment
Procedure of Schaffer and Emerson (1964):
- 60 (31 male, 29 female) Glasgow babies born into skilled working class families, ranging between 5 and 23 weeks of age
- Visited in homes every 4 weeks in first year and again in 18 months
- Overt observations, interviews conducted and mother keeps diary of child’s behaviour
- Each mother reported infant’s response to separation in 7 everyday condition
What are the 7 everyday conditions?
- Left alone in room
- Left w/ other people
- Left in pram outside house
- Left in pram outside shops
- Left in cot at night
- Put down after being held by adult
- Passed by while sitting on cot/chair
In what ways did separation have to be described by mothers and what attachment behaviours did this help measure?
- Intensity of protest on a 4 point scale
- Who protest was directed at
Attachment behaviours:
1) Separation anxiety
2) Stranger anxiety
Separation anxiety:
Distress shown by infant when separated from their caregiver
Stranger anxiety:
Distress shown by infant when approached by someone unfamiliar