introduction to attachment Flashcards
what is an attachment
an attachment can be defined as a close two - way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their emotional security
how long does it take for humans to become attached
attachment in humans takes a few months to develop
what are the three ways that attachment can be displayed in humans
we can recognise attachment when people display the following behaviours:
- proximity
- separation distress
- secure- base behaviour
what is proximity
people try to stay physically close to those to whom they are attached to
what is separation distress
it is when people get distressed when an attachment figure leaves
what is secure- base behaviour
even though we are independent from our attachment figure we tend to make regular contact with them
e.g. infants return to their attachment figure while playing
why are the social interactions between infants and their carers important
from an early age, babies have meaningful social interactions with their carers
It is believed that these interactions have important functions for the child’s social development, in particular for the development of the carer giver infant attachment
what do mothers and infants spend most of their time doing
from birth babies and their mothers (or carers) spend a lot of time in intense and pleasurable interactions
how do babies show that that they are ready for interactions
babies have periodic “alert phases” and signal that they are ready for interactions
Mothers typically pick up on and respond to infant alertness around two - thirds (Feldmand and Eidelman 2007)
what happens to these interactions when the infant becomes three months
from around three months this interactions tends to be increasingly frequent and involves close attention to each other’s verbal signals and facial expressions (Feldman 2007)
A key element of this interaction is reciprocity
what is reciprocity
an interaction is reciprocal when each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them
how does reciprocity demonstrated in carer infant interactions
Tradition views of childhood have seen the baby in a passive role, receiving care from an adult
However, it seems that the baby takes an active role
Both mother and child can initiate interactions and they appear to take in turns doing so
Brazleton et al described described this interaction like a dance where each partner responds to each other’s moves
what is interactional synchrony
two people are said to be synchronised when they carry out the same behaviour simultaneously
interactional synchony can be defined as the “temporal coordination of mico - level behaviour” ( Feldman 2007)
It takes place when mother and infant interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other
what research is there into interactional sychrony
Meltzoff and Moore
Meltzoff and Moore (1977) observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants as young as 2 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
An association was found between the expression or gesture the adult had displayed and the actions of the babies
what research is there into interactional sychrony
Isabella et al
Isabella et al (1989) observed 30 mothers and infants to gather and assessed the degree of sychrony
The researchers also assessed the quality of mother - infant attachment
They found that high levels of sychrony were associated with better quality mother - infant attachment (e.g. the emotional intensity of the relationship)
why is interactional sychrony important
it is believed to be important in the development of mother - infant attachment
what question does psychologist want to answer in regards to attachment
who do infants become attached to?
how do we know that one of the father’s role is a secondary care giver
Traditionally, we have thought in the terms of mother - infant attachment
Schaffer and Emerson (1954) found that the majority of babies did become attached to their mother first (around 7 months) and within a few weeks or months formed secondary attachment to other family members, including the father
75% of the infants studied an attachment was formed with the father by the age of 18 months.
This was determined by the fact that the infants protested when their father walked away a sign of attachment
how do we know that the father’s role is as a play mate
Grossman (2002) carried out a longitudinal study looking at both parent’s behaviour and it relationship to the quality of children’s attachment into their teens
the quality of infant attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to children’s attachments in adolescence, suggesting that father attachment is 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, less to do with nurturing
how do we know that fathers have the potential to be primary care givers
There is some evidence to suggest that when fathers do take on their role of being the main caregiver they adopt behaviour that have in the past been associated with the mother
Tiffany Field (1978) filmed 4 month old babies in face to face interaction with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers
The 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
So it seems that fathers can be more nurturing attachment figure
- The key to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness not the gender of the parent
