paper 1 - attatchment

Question 1

Define attachment

Answer 1

A two way emotional bond between individuals in which each individual sees the other as a essential for their emotional security

Question 2

From the start babies have….

Answer 2

Meaningful social Interactions with their carers. Psychologists believe these interactions have important functions for the child’s social interactions. In particular early social interactions are associated with the successful development or attachments between babies and their caregiver.

Question 3

Name the caregiver-infant interactions

Answer 3

RECIPROCITY
INTERACTIONAL SYNCHRONY

Question 4

RECIPROCITY

Answer 4

One theory of how babies form attachments with their primary caregiver.
Reciprocity develops by about three months. The interaction is reciprocal, when each person responds to the others signal and responds to them.

Question 5

reciprocity - alert phases and active involvement

Answer 5

ALERT PHASES-
Babies have periodic alert phase in which they signal (e.g eye contact) that they are ready for a spell of interaction.
Research shows that mothers typically pick up on respond to their baby’s alertness around two thirds of the time ( Feldman and Eidelman 2007). Although this varies according to the skill of the mother and external factors such as stress (Finegood et al 2016).
From around three months this interaction tends to become increasingly frequent and involves both the mother and baby paying attention to each others verbal signal and facial expressions (Feldman 2007)

ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT-
Traditional views of childhood have portrayed babies in a passive role ( not actively taking action+participating) , receiving care from an adult. However, it seems that babies as well as caregivers actually take an active role.
Both the caregiver and baby can initiate interactions and they appear to take turns in doing so.
T. Berry Bazelton et al (1975) described this interaction as a ‘dance’ as if just like a couple dance, where each partner respond to other persons move.

Question 6

INTERACTIONAL SYNCHRONY

Answer 6

The infant and the mother mirror the action and emotions of each other in a synchronise way.

Question 7

Interactional synchrony- synchrony begins, importance for attatchment

Answer 7

Synchrony begins-
Andrew Meltzoff and Keith Moore( 1977) observed the beginning of interaction synchrony in babies as young as two weeks old. An adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one distinctive gestures. The baby’s response was filmed and labelled by independent observers. Babies expression and gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adults more than chance would predict (I.E there was a significant association). An associate ( relationships) was found between the expression of gesture the adult had displayed and the action of the baby.

Importance for attachment-
It’s is believed that interactional synchrony is important the development of caregiver infant attachment.
Russell Isabella (1989) observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed the quality of mother- baby attachment. They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother- baby attachment( i.e.the emotional intensity of the relationship)

Question 8

Evaluation of caregiver-infant interactions

Answer 8

(-) Observations
When observing infant interactions it can be difficult to know what is merely hand movement and what is an direct interaction ( Aratier, 2020)

(-) importance
Feldman (2012) points out that synchrony and reciprocity simply describes behaviours. But they do not tell us the development purpose of them.

(+) validity
The observations are well controlled and filmed from multiple- angles. This enables inter-rater reliability as more than one observer can watch. Also, the babies don’t know they’re being observed, so do not change their behaviour
( inter- rater reliability, the degree of agreement between difference people observing of assessing the same thing)

Question 9

Schaffer and Emerson ( Glasgow babies)

Answer 9

Schaffer and Emerson studied attachment behaviours of babies. Their findings led them to develop an account of how attachment behaviour change as a baby gets older.
Shaver and Emerson’s studied 60 Glasgow babies from working class backgrounds. They visited every month for the first year and again at 18 months. They measured the babies attachment by asking the mother questions about separation anxiety and stranger anxiety.

Question 10

Schaffer and Emerson proposed that there were four identifiable stages of attachment, a sequence which is observed in all babies. From this, what are the attachments stages?

Answer 10

Stage 1- ASOCIAL (0-2 months)
Stage 2- INDISCRIMINATE ATTACHMENT ( 2-7 months)
Stage 3- SPECIFIC ATTACHMENT (7-9months)
Stage 4- MULTIPLE ATTACHMENT (9months+)

Question 11

Stage- 1 , ASOCIAL (0-2 months)

Answer 11

Asocial (0-2 months)- In a baby’s first few weeks of life, observable behaviour towards human and intimate objects are fairly similar- hence the term asocial. The baby is recognising and bonding with its care giver, it’s responds to objects and humans in the same manner. There is some preferences for familiar adults, in that those individuals find it easier to calm them. Babies seem to be happier in the presence of these individuals.

Question 12

Stage 2, Indiscriminate attatchment (2-7months)

Answer 12

Babies display a preference towards people compared to intimate objects. They recognise and familiarise with humans. Usually accepts cuddles and comforts from ant adult and they do not usually show seperstion anxiety or stranger anxiety.
Displays more obvious and observable social behaviour.

Question 13

Stage 3, specific attachments (7-9months )

Answer 13

Around 7 months, the majority of babies start to display classic signs of attachment towards one particular person. The majority babies start to display stranger anxiety and separation anxiety. Formed a specific attachment, this is the person who responds to the infants needs and signals.

Question 14

Stage 4, Multiple attachments (9months+)

Answer 14

Shortly after babies start to show attachment behaviour (e.g stranger anxiety and separation anxiety) towards one person they usually extend this behaviour to MULTIPLE ATTACHMENTS. With other people whom regularly spend time- these relationships are called secondary attachment. 29% of infants had a secondary attachment with a month of forming specific attachment. By the age of one year the majority of infants have formed multiple attachments.

Question 15

Evaluating of Schaffer and Emerson attachment stages

Answer 15

(+) REAL WORLD APPLICATION
Real practical applications in daycare centre (where babies care cared for outside of their homes by non-family adults). In asocial and indiscriminate stage daycare centres is likely to be straightforward as babies will be cared by trained/skilled professionals. However (counterpoint) research tells us that daycare centres especially starting day care centres with an unfamiliar adult may be problematic during the specific attachment stage.

(-) EARLIER ATTACHMENT
Carpenter (1975) found that two week old infants looked at faces for longer when it was accompanied with the mother’s voice rather than an unfamiliar one. This suggests that infants are attached to their mothers at a earlier age than Schaffer and Emerson suggested.

(-) CULTURE BIAS
Van ijzendoorn found that culture plays a part in how and when we form attatchment with whom. In many non-western societies, babies have multiple carers, as this is the norm and so multiple attachments are form earlier.

(-) ASOCIAL STAGE
Young babies have poor co-ordination and are pretty much in-mobile the first few weeks. Therefore it can be difficult to make any judgments about purpose of behaviour.

Question 16

The role of the father

Answer 16

Most attachment is focused on the mother’s and baby’s attachments, and the role of the father in the development of the attachment has often been neglected. However, there is research on specific roles that fathers play in development ( this doesn’t necessarily have to be the biological father).

Question 17

Attachment to fathers

Answer 17

Evidence to suggest that fathers are much less likely to become babies first attachment figure compared to mothers.

Question 18

What did shaffer and Emerson say about attachment to fathers ?

Answer 18

Looking at the stages of attachment based on research by Shaffer and Emerson- they found the majority of babies first became attached to their mothers around 7 months. In only 3% of the cases the father was the first sole attachment. In 27% of cases the father was the joint first attachment with mother.

However, it appears that most fathers go on to become important attachments figures. 75% of the babies studied by Schaffer and Emerson formed an attachment with their father by age of 18 months. This was determined by the fact that the babies protested (crying and showed distress) when their father walked away - a sign of attachment.

Question 19

Klaus Grossman- Distinctive role for father

Answer 19

Klaus Grossman carried out a longitudinal study where babies attachment were studied until they were into their teens. The researcher looked at both parent’s behaviour and it’s relationship to the quality of their baby’s later life to other people. Quality of baby’s attachment with mothers but not with fathers was related to attachment in adolescence.
However, Grossman et al found that the quality of father’s play with babies was related to the quality to adolescence attachment. This suggests that father has a different role from mothers- one that is more to do with play and stimulation and less with emotional development.

Question 20

Father’s as primary attachment figures

Answer 20

A baby’s relationship with their primary attachment figure forms the basis of all later close emotional relationships. There’s evidence to suggest that when fathers do take on the role of primary caregiver they are able to adopt emotional role more typically associated with mothers.

Question 21

Tiffany Fields ( 1978) - father as primary attachment figure

Answer 21

Filmed 4 month old babies face-to-face interaction with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers. Primary caregiver fathers, like primary caregivers mothers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding babies than the secondary caregiver fathers. Smiling, imitating and holding babies are all part of reciprocity and interactional synchrony are part of the process of attachment formation ( mentioned by Isabell et al).
This suggests that fathers have the potential to be the more emotion-focuses primary attachment figure- they can provide the responsiveness required for a close emotional attachment but perhaps only express this when given the role of primary caregiver.