Introductions to Attachment Flashcards
What is an attachment?
- An affectional tie to another person or an animal binding over space and time
- Gain and maintain a degree of proximity
What is developmental psychology concerned about?
-How children and adults change as we get older
How came up with the characteristics of attachment?
Maccoby
When did Maccoby come up with the characteristics of attachment?
1980
What were the three characteristics of attachment?
- Proximity seeking
- Separation distress
- Secure base behaviour
What is reciprocity?
one person responds to the other
Does interaction with infants take place with verbal or non-verbal communication?
Non verbal communication
When can reciprocity be increasingly demonstrated in infants?
3 months
What types of close attention should each person be looking for in reciprocity?
- Facial
- Verbal
Who researched into reciprocity?
Brazleton et al
When did Brazleton et al research into reciprocity?
1975
What did Brazleton et al (1975) say about reciprocity?
Interaction is like a dance as each person responds to each others move
What is interactional synchronicity?
Another type of communication involves infants imitating specific gestures
When has interactional synchronicity shown to be playing apart in infants?
As young as 3 days old
What did Meltzof and Moore (1977) research into?
Interactional synchronicity
Describe what Meltzof and Moore (1977) did:
- Observed the beginnings of interactional synchronicity in infants as young as 2 weeks
- Adult display 1 of 3 facial expressions or gestures
What did Meltzof and Moore (1977) find?
An association between expression/gesture and action of a child
What has a high levels of interactional synchrony shown about development of attachment?
Higher quality of attachment
What did Isabella et al (1989) research into?
Interactional synchrony and its effect on attachment
Describe what Isabella et al (1989) did:
- Observed 20 mothers and infants
- Assessed degree of synchrony and quality of mother-infant attachment
What did Isabella et al (1989) find?
High levels of synchrony were associated with better quality
What has researchers shown babies to be?
Active not passive
What are the limitations of observing infants?
Cannot know if definitely cause and effect or if behaviours have a special meaning
What are the strengths of well-controlled procedures?
- Normally filmed to fine details of behaviours are recorded
- Babies do not know that they are being watched = low demand characteristic
Why does observing behaviours of mothers and infants not tell us the purpose of synchrony nor reciprocity?
Simply describes behaviours
Is research into mother-infant interactions socially sensitive?
Yes
Why is mother-infant interaction research socially sensitive?
Suggests that those children lacking in attachment are at a disadvantaged (mothers shouldn’t go back to work)
Why does identification of interactional sychrony help society?
Practical applications into therapies
What is the role of the father affected by?
- Culture
- Economic factors
- Social policy
- Biological factors
Can fathers be primary caregivers?
Yes
What did Field (1978) find?
That primary caregiver fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than secondary caregiver father
What has researchers seen the role of fathers to be?
Play more than nurture
What did Grossmann (2002) do?
- Longitudinal study
- Parents behaviours and its relationship to quality of attachment into their teens
What did Grossmann (2002) find?
Views fathers roles as less important in long-term emotional development
Why is research into the role of the father difficult?
As researchers are interested in either fathers as a primary caregiver or as a secondary caregiver
What did Schaffer and Emerson (1964) find?
That fathers mainly form secondary attachment
Why is evidences of undermining ideas of the fathers having a distinct roles a limitation?
As shows fathers role to not be important
What evidence shows undermining ideas of the father’s role having a distinct role?
-Same-sex or single parent families don’t develop differently than those with two-parent families
Is there a clear answer about fathers and primary attachment?
No
What are the economical implications of researching into role of the father?
- Mothers feel pressured to stay at home
- Research into the fathers can cause more comfort for mothers when having to make a hard choice about going to work
