INFANT-CAREGIVER ATTACHMENT

Question 1

What is an attachment?

Answer 1

A close two-way emotional bond between individuals in which each person sees the other as essential for their own emotional security

Question 2

What 4 signs are displayed when an attachment has formed?

Answer 2

Separation anxiety
Joy on reunion
Proximity
Orientation towards each other

Question 3

What is reciprocity?

Answer 3

A two-way interaction where both people actively contribute and respond to each other

Question 4

What is interactional synchrony?

Answer 4

The coordination of micro-level social behaviour

Question 5

How did Brazleton describe reciprocity?

Answer 5

Like a dance

Question 6

Which research found that interactional synchrony is important for early development?

Answer 6

Isabella studied 30 mothers and found that higher levels of synchrony were associated with a higher quality attachment

Question 7

What are the positives of studying infant-caregiver attachment?

Answer 7

Babies = no demand characteristics
High ecological validity
Filmed for second opinions = removes subjectivity

Question 8

What are the negatives of studying infant-caregiver attachment?

Answer 8

Babies = reliance on inference
Ethics = psychological harm
Overt observation = parental demand characteristics

Question 9

How has research on infant-caregiver attachment changed in modern society?

Answer 9

More focus on the role of the father

Question 10

Why are reciprocity and interactional synchrony crucial to childhood development?

Answer 10

BROWN found that sensitive interaction is a great predictor of secure-attachment

Question 11

What observation did Bowlby make about the role of the father?

Answer 11

They play a different familial role to mothers - they are more likely to engage in physical play and act as the child’s preferred play companion

Question 12

How does Grossman’s longitudinal study support Bowlby’s observation?

Answer 12

Found that mother’s attachment had a bigger impact on childhood development, but the father’s role is still important as engaging in play and stimulation

Question 13

What evidence is there to suggest that the gender of the caregiver does not matter?

Answer 13

FIELD analysed footage of parental interaction, found that primary caregiver fathers engage in imitative interaction similar to that of primary caregiver mothers
= responsiveness > gender

Question 14

How does Brown’s research support Field’s conclusion?

Answer 14

Found that sensitive interaction is a great predictor of secure-attachment

Question 15

Why is there inconsistent findings on the role of the father?

Answer 15

Psychologists investigate different things - some focus on the father as a secondary attachment figure, some focus on the father as a primary attachment figure

Question 16

What research is there to challenge the idea that fathers have distinct roles as secondary attachment figures?

Answer 16

MCCALLUM + GOLOMBOK found that children in same-sex households don’t develop differently to those in heterosexual households

Question 17

What did Schaffer and Emerson’s study find about infant attachment?

Answer 17

When infants form a specific attachment, it is the biological mother 65% of the time
= more likely to attach to mother first

Question 18

What could be a biological explanation for less fathers being primary attachment figures?

Answer 18

Female hormone oestrogen could cause mothers to be more biologically pre-disposed to being nurturing attachment figures

Question 19

Why is this research socially sensitive?

Answer 19

It puts pressure on mothers to influence their child’s development, implying that they must not return to work and can be blamed for any poor development