attatchment-booklet 1 Flashcards by Laibah Mahmood

what is attachment

Attachment is defined as an enduring, two-way emotional relationship between two people, in which each seeks closeness and feels more secure when in the presence of one another

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what does attachment develop as a response to

it develops as a response to interactions between the child and the caregiver

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what is infancy

Infancy is the period of a child’s life before speech begins

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what is one of the key interactions between the caregiver and infant

One of the key interactions between a caregiver and the infant is their non-verbal communication
eg–eye contact

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what determines how strong the relationship/attachment is between caregiver and infant

The more sensitive each is to the other’s signal, the deeper the relationship

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what are the two types of caregiver-infant interactions

Interactional synchrony
Reciprocity

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what is reciprocity

Interactions between carers and infants result in mutual behaviour, with both being able to produce responses from each other.

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what did Feldman state about reciprocity

from around 3 months reciprocity increases in frequency. It is stated that showing sensitive responsiveness where the caregiver pays attention sensitively towards the infants behaviour lays strong foundations for attachment

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what is involved in reciprocity

turn taking

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what is interactional synchrony

when infants mirror the actions/emotions of another person they will carry out the same acts simultaneously

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how does the child move in relation to the caregiver

the two are said to be synchronised often the interaction is perfectly timed as though they are one

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what was the method for meltzoff and Moore study
(supporting evidence for interactional synchrony)

-there was a controlled observation where an adult model displayed one of 3 facial expressions or moved there fingers in sequence
-a dummy was placed in the mouth to prevent any response the the dummy was removed and facial expression was recorded in real time, slow motion and frame by frame
-each observer scored behavioural categories twice
-clear association between infants and adult models behaviour
-he repeated the experiment with 3 day old infant and found they also imitated the behaviour ruling out the possibility imitation behaviours are learnt

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what does Melzoff and Moores study suggest

that interactional synchrony is innate and probably linked to survival

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RAVE melzoff and moores study

+ high internal validity-high controlled meaning the IV was the only thing affecting the DV
+inter rater reliability- more than one observer can check the behaviour by slowing down footage-this means the study is reliable.
-testing young children-Fieldman states infants move there arms and wave there arms consistently which means the behaviours could’ve occurred by chance.

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what is some supporting evidence for reciprocity

condon and sander found new borns co-ordinate there movements and gestures in time with human speech
shows its an innate behaviour that is important for the development of attatchments

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supporting evidence for reciprocity

Tronik- asked mothers who have been enjoying a dialogue with their child to maintain a static unsmiling expression. babies would attempt to tempt there mother by smiling and would become puzzled and distressed when this did not provoke the usual response.

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what does Troniks research suggest and what are any ethical issues involved in this

-babies expect and anticipate concordant responses
-ethical issues-purposely causing the baby distress however it is justified as it is no more than in everyday life

criticisms of supporting evidence

-you cannot establish cause and effect as it would be ethically immoral to limit the quantity of caregiver-infant interactions

criticism of supporting evidence

-fieldman said infants move there mouth and wave there arms consistently so these behaviours may have occurred by chance

what are some practical applications

crotwell found 10m parent-child interaction therapy improved interactional synchrony
-however, this research is socially sensitive and leads mothers to believe working is harmful so will mean less mothers will work so less money is taxes which lowers the economy

Desribe schaffer and emersons study for the stages of attachment

-they have 60 babies from 5-23 weeks
-it was an overt observation
-the babies where visited once a month for the first 12 months then again at 18m
-the mothers kept a diary about how the baby reacted to strangers and being left alone-social desirability from the mothers
attachment was measured using
-stranger anxiety-the researcher kept approaching the infant until they whimpered
-separation anxiety-how the infant was left alone/left with a stranger

what where the finding of schaffer and emersons stages of attachment

-At 18m 13% where attached only to one person
-At 18m 31% had 5 or more attachments
- 65% the first specific attatchment was the mother

pre-attachment/ A social stage age and description

birth-2m
-shows a similar response to object and people
-shows a preference for eyes

indiscriminate attachment stage age and description

2-7/8m
-shows a preference for human company over non-human company.
-indiscriminately comforted by anyone
-does not show stranager anxiety

discriminate attachment stage/ specific age and description

-7/8m and onwords -infant shows preference for one caregiver -displays stranger and separation anxiety -looks to a particular person for security/protection -are comforted by primary caregiver

multiple attachment stage age and description

-1 year onwards -attachments are displayed towards several people -they form in the first month after primary attachment

evaluate schaffer and emersons study (positives)

-study was longitudinal they used the same 60 children which allows us to eliminate participant variables which allows more internally valid data to be produced -the study has high ecological validity as it was conducted in there own homes so it would apply to other children from a similar demographic in there own homes

evaluate schaffer and emersons study (negative)

mothers may have shown social desirability bias to appear as better mothers with more secure attachments so the data lacks internal validity -they used a narrow measure of attachment eg- separation and stranger anxiety so the research lack validity. They may have failed to notice attachments when they had actually formed eg-smiling

what was Bowlby view on multiple attachment

-we form one special emotional attachment (monotropy) -subsidary to this there are secondary attatchments which are important as a emotional safety net

what was Rutters view on multiple attatchment

all attatchment figures are equal -all the attatchments are intergrate to form a child internal working model (schema of relationships)

what is an advantage of multiple attachment

if we lose one attachment we have several others we can turn to

what findings from Schaffer and Emersons study support fathers not being important attachment figures

3% attatched to father first

when did infants form an attachment with there father

75% formed an attachment at 18m which shows infants attach later in life

how is the role of the father different from the role of the mother

fathers provide a qualitatively different role from the mother. The fathers role is stimulating play whereas the mothers is emotional support. but this role of playmate is just as crucial to the child's wellbeing

what evidence supports the conclusion that the role of father is different from mother

Grossman found the quality of fathers play was related to the quality of attachment in adolescence. It was concluded that mother and father are equally as important however mothers role is more nurturing whereas the fathers is more stimulating through play

who found evidence to suggest gender is not crucial in the child's development

Field-filmed 4 month old babies interacion with primary caregiver fathers and found there behaviour was typical of mothers in whicb they spent more time smiling, holding hand with the baby

what did evidence find about single parent households

MacCalllum and Golombok found children growing in single parent or same sex parent households do not develop any differently to children with two-parent heterosexual family

what is a limitation about the research conduced into the role of the father

socially sensitive-Grossman said the quality of fathers play with the child influences the quality of attachment in adolescence . suggest children without father figures will be unable to form high quality attatchments/realtionships with others

what is evidence to suggest the role of the father is biologically predetermined

Hardy found fathers were less able to detect low levels of infant stress compared to mothers. This may be due to the lack of oestrogen in men so they are unable to create higher levels of nurtuirng

what are some economic implications of the role of the father

-fathers will remain at home-wont go out and get a job + pay taxes -however it creates opportunity for mothers to work -increases paternity leave-government spend more on paternity leave affects the economy -children without fathers seem to to do less well at school-wont get a high paying job

what may the role of the father be a result of

this may be the result of traditonal gender roles and women are expected be more nurtering and caring than men. There may be biases due to what society expects from them