Caregiver-infant interactions Flashcards
What is an attachment?
an emotional bond between two people
What is reciprocity?
when an infant responds to the actions of another person in a form of turn-taking.
What is interactional synchrony + example?
takes place when an infant mirrors the actions or emotions of another person e.g: facial expressions. it sustains communication between two individuals.
Which study examined interactional synchrony in infants?
Key Study: Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
Aim: To examine interactional synchrony in infants
Method: An adult model displayed one of three facial expressions or a hand gesture. The child had a dummy in their mouth and following the display from the adult model, the dummy was removed and the
child’s expressions were filmed.
Results: There was a clear association between the infants’ behaviour and the adult model.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that interactional synchrony is innate and reduces the strength of any claim that imitative behaviour is learned.
Evaluate the study that examined interactional synchrony in infants
- ## One limitation is that they have questionable reliability of testing children since infants move their mouths and wave their arms constantly so we cannot be certain if the infants were actually engaging in interactional synchrony or reciprocity since some of the behaviour may have occurred by chance
What is the first stage of Schaffer’s stages of attachments?
- Asocial - from birth to two months - an infant shows similar responses to objects and people although towards the end of this stage they have a preference for faces/eyes.
What is the second stage of Schaffer’s stages of attachments?
- Indiscriminate attachments - from two to six months - an infant now shows preference for human company over non-human company. They can distinguish between people but are comforted by anyone and do not show stranger anxiety yet.
What is the third stage of Schaffer’s stages of attachments?
- Discriminate attachments - from seven to twelve months - an infants shows a preference for one caregiver, displaying separation and stranger anxiety. The infant looks to a particular person for joy and comfort (the primary caregiver)
What is the fourth stage of Schaffer’s stages of attachments?
- Multiple attachments - one year onward - attachment behaviours are now displayed towards several different people e.g: siblings, grandparents and are sometimes referred to as secondary attachments. They typically form in the first month after the primary attachment is formed.
Which study examined the formation of early attachments?
Key Study: Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
Aim: To examine the formation of early attachments
Methods: The sample consisted of 60 babies (31 male, 29 female) from working class families in Glasgow aged between 5-23 weeks. The researchers visited the babies every month in their homes for the first 12 months and again at 18 months. They interviewed the mothers and observed the children in relation to seperation and stranger anxiety in a range of everyday activities.
Results: At 25-32 weeks, 50% of children showed separation anxiety towards their mothers, which is expected at the discriminate attachment stage. By 40 weeks, 80% of children had a specific (discriminate) attachment and 30% had started to form multiple attachments
Conclusion: The results provided support for Schaffer’s stages of developing an attachment and suggests that attachment develops through a series of stages across the first year of life.
Evaluate the study that examined the formation of early attachments
- One strength is that it has a high external validity. They conducted the observations in each child’s own home which means that the children and parents were more likely to act naturally which means the results are likely to apply to other children from a similar demographic in their own homes
- One weakness is that it lacks population validity. The sample consisted of only 60 working class mothers and babies from Glasgow. They may form different attachments with their infants compared to wealthier families from other countries. This means we are unable to generalise the results of the study to mothers and babies of other countries since their behaviour may not be comparable
What is the role of the father + evaluation
Some psychologists claim that fathers are not capable of forming attachments because women have the hormone oestrogen which causes caring behaviour and the lack of oestrogen in men could explain why they are unable to form a close attachment.
Other psychologists claim that fathers take on the role of a playmate rather than a caregiver role.
- There is evidence to support that fathers take on the role of a playmate rather than a caregiver. Geiger 1996 found that a fathers play interactions were more exciting whereas a mothers play interactions were more affectionate. This confirms the role of the father is a playmate and the mother takes on a nurturing role
