Attatchment Flashcards
What is attachment?
A strong reciprocal emotional bond between an infant and a primary caregiver.
What does reciprocal mean?
Two/both ways.
The child has to bond with the mother and the mother has to bond with the child for an attachment to form successfully.
What does Brazleton et al find out about the importance of reciprocity?
Children as young as 2 weeks old can attempt to copy their caregiver, who in turn responds to the child’s signals two thirds of the time.
Why is reciprocity important in teaching the child to communicate?
It also allows the parent to better care for the child as they can detect certain cues from the baby and respond to their needs sooner and more efficiently.
What is interactional synchrony?
When the infant and primary caregiver become synchronised in their actions.
What is the main issue with observations of such young children?
We do not know whether their actions are meaningful (children as young as 2 weeks have little or no coordination). Just because an action appears reciprocal does not mean the child understands the purpose of either reciprocity or interactional synchrony.
What was the aim of a Schaffer and Emerson’s study (1964)?
To identify stages of attachment/find a pattern in the development of an attachment between infants and parents.
What was the sample of Schaffer and Emerson’s study (1964)?
60 babies from Glasgow - all from the same estate.
What was the procedure of Schaffer and Emersons study (1964)?
- They analysed the interaction between the infants and the carers.
- They interviewed the carers.
- The mother had to keep a diary to track the infants behaviour based on:
Separation anxiety, stranger anxiety and social referencing. - It was a longitudinal study lasting 18 months.
- They visited the infants on a monthly and at the end of the 18 month period.
What were the findings of Schaffer and Emerson’s study (1964)?
- Babies of carers who has ‘sensitive responsiveness’ were more likely to form an attachment.
- Parents who did not interact with their child formed very weak attachments.
Attachments seemed to form when the Carer communicates and plays with the child rather than when the Carer feeds or cleans the baby.
What is the first stage of attachment?
Asocial Stage (0-6 weeks) This is when the infant responds to objects and people similarly - but they may respond more to faces and eyes.
What is the second stage of attachment?
Indiscriminate Attachments (6 weeks - 6 months) This is when the infant develops more response to human company. Although they can tell the difference between people, they can be comforted by anyone.
What’s the third stage of attachment?
Specific Attachments (7 months +) This is when the infant begins to prefer one particular Carer and seems for security, comfort and protection in particular people. They also start to show stranger anxiety and separation anxiety.
What is the fourth stage of attachment?
Multiple Attachments (10/11 months +) This is when the infant forms multiple attachments and seeks security, comfort and protection in multiple people. They may also have separation anxiety for multiple people.
What did Schaffer and Emerson’s find out in terms of role of the father?
75 % of infants in their study formed a secondary attachment to their father by the age of 18 months, with 29% doing so within a month of forming a primary attachment, as demonstrated by seperation anxiety.
What did Tiffany Field discover about the role of the father?
She observed interactions between infants and their primary caregiver mother and fathers and found that primary caregivers, regardless of gender, were more attentive towards the infant and spent more time holding and smiling at them. This suggests that although mothers are expected to become to primary Carer, this does not always happen.
What is the learning theory of attachment?
Children are born as a clean slate. Everything we know is learned through out experiences, as a baby has to learn to form an attachment with its mother.
What is ‘cupboard love’?
Where we form attachments to the person providing us with food. Hunger is a primary drive and attachment is the association formed between the caregiver and the satisfaction of the primary drive reduction.
What is the attachment formation of classical conditioning?
Food = Pleasure
Food + Mother = Pleasure
Mother = Pleasure
