introduction to attachment

Question 1

what is meant by ‘attachment’ ? (2)

Answer 1

an emotional tie or bond between 2 people , usually a primary caregiver and a child
–> the relationship is usually reciprocal , which means it is 2-way relationship that endures over time

Question 2

when does attachment begin in terms of between infants and caregivers ?

Answer 2

interactions between infants and caregivers

Question 3

what is key from the caregiver ?

Answer 3

responsiveness

Question 4

what is the importance of the interactions of the carers and the baby ?

Answer 4

–> important for social development
–> important for development of good quality attachment

Question 5

define reciprocity

Answer 5

a mutual exchange where both the caregiver and infant respond to each other’s signal , influencing each other’s behaviour

Question 6

what is believed to occur for babies at an early age ?

Answer 6

have meaningful social interactions with their carers

Question 7

what do babies have and show ?

Answer 7

periodic ‘alert phases’ and signal that they are ready for interaction

Question 8

how often do mothers respond to this ( research supported by) ?

Answer 8

typically pick up on and respond to infant alertness around two-thirds of the time
–>(Feldman and Eidelman 2007)

Question 9

what happens to the baby in terms of reciprocity (research supported by)?

Answer 9

increases in frequency
–> involves close attention to each other’s verbal signals and facial expressions (Feldman 2007)

Question 10

what have traditional views of childhood seen babies in ?

Answer 10

passive role
–> receiving care from an adult

Question 11

what is now established between the baby and the mother ?

Answer 11

an active role
–> both mother and child can initiate interactions and they appear to take turns in turn in doing so

Question 12

what is research that supports this now established between role ?

Answer 12

brazleton et al. (1975)
–> described this interaction as a ‘dance’ because it is just like a couple’s dance where each partner responds to each other’s moves

Question 13

define interactional synchrony

Answer 13

mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated way

Question 14

what can interactional synchrony be defined as (research supported by) ?

Answer 14

‘the temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour’ ’ (Feldman 2007)

Question 15

when does interactional synchrony take place ?

Answer 15

when mother and infant interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other

Question 16

what does the research show taken by ( M + M in —-) ?

Answer 16

Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
–> observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants as young as 2 weeks old
–> adults displayed 2 of 3 facial expressions or gestures and the infants reaction was filmed and identified
–> there was a correlation between adult behaviour and infant response

Question 17

what does the research show taken by ( I e A in —-) ?

Answer 17

Isabella et al. (1989)
–> assessed degree of synchrony in 30 infants and their mothers
–> also assessed the quality of attachment between mothers and infants
–> found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality attachments (e.g. high emotional intensity of relationships

Question 18

what offers several advantages ?

Answer 18

–> controlled observations filmed in a laboratory setting

Question 19

what can be minimized for the baby and means ?

Answer 19

potential distractions
–> ensuring a more focused observation of their natural behaviour

Question 20

what can researchers do later which means ?

Answer 20

analyse key behaviours
–> reducing the chance of missing important details

Question 21

what can multiple observers do and this means ?

Answer 21

can independently assess the same footage
–> helping to establish inter-rater reliability

Question 22

what is strength that helps the experiment which means ?

Answer 22

babies are unaware that they are being observed
–> their behaviour is unlikely to change due to the presence of researchers unlikely in overt behaviours

Question 23

what is good about the data collected ?

Answer 23

methods are likely to be both reliable and valid
–> which strengthens the overall credibility of the findings

Question 24

what is weakness of the experiment ?

Answer 24

it’s hard to interpret baby’s behaviour
–> due to lack of coordination
–> immobile
–> observations are mainly of hand movements or subtle changes in expressions
__> hard to know what is going on / what the meaning is and what is going on from the baby’s perspective
OVERALL can’t be sure that the behaviours observed in caregiver infant interactions have any special meaning

Question 25

what does observing the behaviour not tell us ?

Answer 25

it’s developmental importance

Question 26

what are synchrony and reciprocity according to Feldman ?

Answer 26

just names given to patterns of behaviour

Question 27

what is a weakness of the patterns of behaviour ?

Answer 27

although they clearly exist
–> not particularly useful in understanding development as we don’t know the purpose of the behaviours

Question 28

what can’t observational research alone tell us ?

Answer 28

whether they are important for an infant’s development