Introduction to attachment

Question 1

From an early age, babies have meaningful social interactions with their carers. What is the importance of these relationships?

Answer 1

It is believed that these interactions have important functions for the child’s social development, in particular for the development of caregiver-infant attachment.

Question 2

What is reciprocity?

Answer 2

Reciprocity is a description of how two people interact. Mother-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both infant and mother respond to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from the other.

Question 3

Which two psychologists investigated reciprocity in infants?

Answer 3

Feldman and Eidelman (2007)

Question 4

What did Feldman and Eidelman find from their research into reciprocity?

Answer 4

From birth babies and their mothers (or carers) spend a lot of time in intense and pleasurable interaction. Babies have periodic ‘alert phases’ and signal that they are ready for interaction, Mothers typically pick up on and respond to infant alertness around two-thirds of the time.

Question 5

From three months, what happens to the interaction between an infant and their mother?

Answer 5

From around three months this interaction tends to be increasingly frequent and involves close attention being paid to each other’s verbal signals and facial expressions.

Question 6

When is an interaction thought to be reciprocal?

Answer 6

An interaction is reciprocal when each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them.

Question 7

How did traditional views of childhood perceive the role of children in attachment building relationships?

Answer 7

Traditional views of childhood have seen the baby in a passive role, receiving care from an adult.

Question 8

How can traditional views of childhood be criticised?

Answer 8

According to contemporary research, it seems that the baby takes an active role, not a passive one. Both the mother and child can initiate interactions and they appear to take turns in doing so.

Question 9

Which psychologists described the interaction between an infant and their mother as a ‘dance’?

Answer 9

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 10

How can interactional synchrony be defined?

Answer 10

Interactional synchrony can be defined as the ‘temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour’. It takes place when mother and infant interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other.

Question 11

Which two psychologists conducted research into interactional synchrony in infants?

Answer 11

Meltzoff and Moore (1977)

Question 12

How did Meltzoff and Moore investigate interactional synchrony?

Answer 12

They observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants as young as two weeks old. An adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three distinctive gestures. The child’s response was filmed and identified by independent observers.

Question 13

What did Meltzoff and Moore find from their research into interactional synchrony?

Answer 13

They found an association between the expression or gesture of the adult and the actions of the babies.

Question 14

What is the importance of interactional synchrony?

Answer 14

It is believed that interactional synchrony is important for the development of mother-infant attachment.

Question 15

How did Isabella et al. further investigate interactional synchrony?

Answer 15

In 1989, Isabella et al. observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony. The researchers also assessed the quality of mother-infant attachment. They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachment.

Question 16

Traditionally, what types of relationships have been studied by psychologists?

Answer 16

Traditionally psychologists have thought in terms of mother-infant attachment.

Question 17

Which parent do babies typically attach to first: their mother or their father?

Answer 17

Schaffer and Emerson found that the majority of babies became attached to their mother first, at around 7 months old. Within a few weeks or months of this, babies were seen to form secondary attachments to other family members, including the father.

Question 18

From the sample studied by Schaffer and Emerson, what percentage of infants had formed an attachment with their father by 18 months?

Answer 18

75% of the infants studied had formed an attachment with their father by the age of 18 months. This was determined by the fact that the infants protested when their father walked away, which is a sign of attachment.

Question 19

Which psychologist conducted a study investigating the role of the father?

Answer 19

Grossman (2002)

Question 20

How did Grossman investigate the role of the father in attachment-building relationships?

Answer 20

Grossman carried out a longitudinal study looking at both parents’ behaviour and its relationship to the quality of children’s attachments into their teens.

Question 21

What did Grossman find from his longitudinal study?

Answer 21

He found that the quality of infant attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to children’s attachments in adolescence, suggesting that father attachment was less important. However, the quality of fathers’ play with infants was related to the quality of adolescent attachments. This suggests that fathers have a different role in attachment: one that is more to do with play and stimulation, and less to do with nurturing.

Question 22

There is some evidence to suggest that when fathers take on the role of being the main caregiver, they adopt behaviours more typical or mothers. Who conducted research into this?

Answer 22

Tiffany Field (1978)

Question 23

How did Tiffany Field conduct her research into fathers as primary carers?

Answer 23

She filmed four-month-old babies in face-to-face interaction with primary caregiving mothers, secondary caregiving fathers and primary caregiving fathers.

Question 24

What did Field find from her study into fathers as primary caregivers?

Answer 24

Primary caregiver fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than the secondary caregiver fathers. This behaviour appears to be important in building an attachment with the infant. It this seems that fathers can be the more nurturing attachment figure.

Question 25

What was concluded by Field?

Answer 25

From her research into primary caregiver fathers, Field concluded that the key to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness, not the gender of the parent.