Introduction to Attachment

Question 1

What is development psychology?

Answer 1

Describes growth of humans throughout lifespan, from conception, to death
Scientific study of human development seeks to understand and explain how and why people change throughout life
Includes human growth, physical, emotional, intellectual, social, perpetual, and personality development

Question 2

What is the difference between learning theory and evolutionary theory?

Answer 2

Learning theory = infants learn to be attached to their primary caregiver
Evolutionary theory = explains attachment is an innate behaviour that has evolved over millions of years because it increases chances of survival

Question 3

What is a bond?

Answer 3

Set of ‘feelings’ that tie one person to another
E.g. parents often feel very strongly ‘bonded’ with their newborn babies
Can’t see this, as we can’t see feelings

Question 4

What us an attachment?

Answer 4

Is different from a bond
Involves both the baby and parent, who have an emotional link between each other which ties them together
Takes longer to develop than a bond
We can see this when we observe behaviours

Question 5

What is attachment in association with a bond?

Answer 5

Close two-way emotional bond between 2 individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security
Attachment in humans takes a few months to develop

Question 6

What are the 4 characteristics of attachment that Maccoby identified in 1980?

Answer 6

-Seeking proximity
-Distress on separation
-Joy on reunion
-Orientation

Question 7

What is an acronym to remember Maccoby’s 4 characteristics of attachment

Answer 7

Seeking
Pedro’s
Dick
Over
Sass
Just
Overcomplicates
Ryan’s
Orientation
Of
Breasts

Question 8

Why do attachments form?

Answer 8

Infants physically helpless
Short term = need adults for food, comfort and protection
Long term = emotional relationships

Question 9

What is reciprocity

Answer 9

Caregiver-infant interaction is a two-way mutual process
Behaviour of each party elicits a response from the other
Each party responds to action of another’s signal to sustain interaction (turn-talking)
Responses are not necessarily similar as in interactional synchronicity

Question 10

Research on reciprocity

Answer 10

E.g. smiling
Tronick et al. (1977) = asked mothers who had been enjoying dialogue with their baby to stop moving and maintain static, unsmiling expression on faces
Babies try to tempt mother into interaction by smiling themselves
Would become puzzled and increasingly distressed when their smile did not provoke the usual response
#relying_on_others_for_validation

Question 11

Further research on reciprocity

Answer 11

Demonstrates infants coordinate actions with caregivers in kind of conversation
Mothers typically pick up and respond to infant alertness around 2/3 of time

Question 12

Feldman 2007

Answer 12

Reciprocity
Around 3 months interaction tends to be increasingly frequent
From birth babies move in a rhythm when interacting with an adult almost as if they were taking turns

Question 13

Brazelton et al 1975

Answer 13

Suggested basic rhythm is important precursor to later communications
Regularity of infant’s signals allows caregiver to anticipate infant’s behaviour and respond appropriately

nah idk what all this shit means either man

Question 14

What did Trevathan suggest that turn talking in infant-adult interaction is important for?

Answer 14

Development of social and language skills

Question 15

What is interactional synchrony?

Answer 15

Slightly different interaction between infants and caregivers
When 2 people interact in a mirror pattern in terms of their emotional and facial and body movement
Includes imitating emotions as well as behaviours
Feldman = “the temporal coordination of micro-level social behaviour”

this directly translates to “like jeez louise lemon squeeze be original for once”

Question 16

Research on synchrony

Answer 16

Meltzoff and Moore (1977) = observed starts of interactional synchrony in infants (some even 2 weeks old)
Adult displayed 1/3 facial expressions or 1/3 distinctive gestures
Child’s response was filmed and identified by independent observers
Association found between expression or gesture the adult had displayed and action of babies

Later study these two idiyats demonstrated same synchrony with infants only 3 days old

LET EM NAP

Question 17

Further research on synchrony with Isabella et al 1989

Answer 17

Who tf r these ppl, idk either

She found high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachment
Suggests strong emotional attachments are associated with high levels of synchrony

Question 18

What did Grossman 2002 suggest about the role of the father

Answer 18

Longitudinal study looking at parent’s behaviour and quality of children;s attachment into teens
Quality of fathers’ play with infants was related to quality of adolescent attachment
Suggesting play and stimulation was important role for fathers, not nurturing

Question 19

What did Schaffer and Emerson 1964 suggest about parent-infant attachment

Answer 19

Majority of babies attached to mothers first at around 7 months
Within few weeks/months, formed secondary attachments
75% = attachment formed with father by age 18 months

Question 20

What did Field 1978 suggest about fathers as primary carers?

Answer 20

Filmed 4-month old babies in face-to-face interaction with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers
PCF = more likely to smile, hold and imitate baby behaviours than SCF

Key to attachment is level of responsiveness not gender