Caregiver Flashcards
What is reciprocity?
The child and the parent (in most research this is the mother) pay attention to each other’s verbal and non-verbal signals, taking it in turn to initiate the sequence
What is interactional synchrony?
The child and parent are in harmony with their verbal and non-verbal signals, mirroring each other
Research support for caregiver-Feldman and Eidelman.
An observational study which found that mothers responded to their babies in a reciprocal way two-thirds of the time
Research support for caregiver-Isabella et al
Better quality of maternal care was associated with higher levels of mother-infant synchrony
Evaluation Feldman and Eidelman and Isabella et al
Both of the above studies were naturalist observations which means that they are both high in ecological validity however the observer effect may have decreased this validity to some extent.
What was the Schaffer and Emerson experiment?
-A naturalistic observation of 60 babies from the same housing estate in Glasgow over an 18 month period
The results showed that 50% of babies showed separation anxiety towards their PCG in the first 25-32 weeks
The babies showed the strongest attachments to those who gave them the highest quality of care i.e. responding to them sensitively, interacting with them etc. rather than to those who spent the most time with them
What are Schaffer and Emersons stages of attachment?
Stage 1: Asocial stage (0-few weeks old) - the baby does not really distinguish between human and non-human objects
Stage 2: Indiscriminate attachment (2-7 months old) - the baby prefers familiar adults but is happy to be comforted by any adult
Stage 3: Specific attachment (7 months onwards) - the baby now prefers one specific adult and shows separation anxiety and stranger anxiety
Stage 4: Multiple attachments (8/9 months onwards) - the baby enjoys being with people they are familiar with rather than just one specific caregiver all the time
What are the strengths of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
Most of the observations were carried out by the parents of the babies which gives the study good external validity and eliminates any chance of the observer effect invalidating the findings
This was a longitudinal design which means that changes and progress could be tracked over time giving the study good internal validity
What are the limitations of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?
All of the families were from the same council estate in Glasgow which limits the generalisability of the findings
The findings may lack temporal validity as families are very different now to how they were in the early 1960s e.g. blended families, same-sex parents, single parents
How do infants learn to interact with people?
Like attachment in general, this will all start with the caregiver-infant and how they interact
There are believed to be two processes involved in this:
Interactional synchrony
Reciprocity
What is interactional synchrony?
This is when an infant mirrors the actions of their care-giver
Examples of this would be facial expressions or hand gestures
They are said to ‘copy’ their care-giver
What is meltzoff and moore research into interactional synchrony?
-Infants were used as young as two weeks old and were observed via a camera.
-observed parents doing 2 or 3 of four actions
-These were either opening mouth, poking tongue out, frowning and waving a finger
-Independent observers were asked to view the footage and state what they saw the infant actually do
-This was a ‘Double Blind’ as the observer did not know what the aim of the experiment was
Why was Meltzoff and Moore experiment double blind trial?
This was to check if the infant really did poke their tongue out at a certain time as it was felt the Primary Care Giver (PCG ) and/or experimenter would be biased
What were the results of the Meltzoff and Moores experiment?
A positive correlation was found between the infant’s actions and those of the PCG: Copying/imitating was felt to be occurring
What was Isabella et al’s experiment relating to interactional synchrony?
Assessed Interactional synchrony in 30 infants: PCG dyads using the Meltzoff and Moore method used
Found that the better synchrony was shown by those infants who had high levels of attachment to their PCG
This shows that interactional synchrony is important and is linked to strong, securely attached relationships
What are the strengths of interactional synchrony?
This research has strong face validity as it looks to be true: It makes sense we learn at a young age how to interact with others for our own survival
The use of the ‘double blind’ observer who looked at the tapes for Meltzoff and Moore meant less biased results
What are the limitations of interactional synchrony?
-The camera may have had an effect on the participants, especially the infant, as it may have been intrusive and noisy
W-e can never be really certain if the infant poked out their tongue or frowned as they were copying or if it was for another reason, unrelated to the PCG’s actions
What occurs in the Asocial(0-6weeks) of stage of attachment?
-Infants respond to people and objects in the same way
-Babies in this stage can cry for attention and by 6 weeks old they are starting to smile but they may well smile at a range of people, not just the primary caregiver
-Babies do, however, show a preference for looking at images of faces and eyes (Fantz 1961)
What is the indiscriminate stage(6weeks-6months)?
-Enjoys the company of a range of people though from 3 months prefer familiar people
-Happy to be cuddled by a stranger as have not developed stranger anxiety however familiar person is preferred
-May be upset if an adult stops interacting with them but are yet to develop separation anxiety
-Smile at people over objects
What is specific attachment stage(7 months+)?
-Strong attachment to primary caregiver
-All the signs of attachment are present: separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, proximity seeking and clinginess.
What is the multiple attachment stage(10 months onwards)?
-Babies now have a range of secondary attachment figures with whom they have formed a bond grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles, nursery worker etc.
-Secondary attachments are those which develop after the primary attachment figure has been established
-By the time a child is 12-18 months old they will have developed multiple attachments
What are the strengths of stages of attachment?
-The stages follow a logical pattern and reflect most children’s experience of attachment hence the theory has external validity
-The stages of attachment have good application: they could be used to identify developmental delay or infant-caregiver bonding issues by healthcare professionals
What are the limitations of the stages of attachment?
-Not all children will fit neatly into the stages: some children may bond quickly with a range of people while others may be slower so the theory lacks some reliability
-It is notoriously difficult to measure and track infant behaviour: many aspects of attachment remain a mystery i.e. a baby cannot explain how they are feeling or give reasons for their actions
What is multiple attachment?
-Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that by the time the infants were 18 months they had already formed multiple attachments
-Multiple attachments are whereby an infant forms several, different attachments with a range of people, usually a family member.
