What is attachment?
A close two-way emotional bond, usually between infant and caregiver
- each person feels more emotionally secure when the with the other
What are some behaviours that show evidence for attachment?
1) Proximity
2) Stranger anxiety
3) Separation distress
4) Secure-base behaviour
What is stranger anxiety in attachement behaviours?
Distress when in presence of a stranger
What is proximity in attachment behaviours?
People try to stay physically close to those they are attached to
What is separation distress in attachment behaviours?
Feelings of distress when attachement figures leaves
What is secure-base in attachment behaviours?
Explore environment, but regularly return to attachment firgure for comfort
What are caregiver-infant interactions?
The building blocks of attachment:
- reciprocity
- interactional synchrony
What is reciprocity in attachment?
Infant and caregiver are both take “turns” to actively contribute and respond to each other.
How are caregiver-infant interactions reciprocal?
Caregiver-infant interaction is reciprocal as the infant and caregiver respond to each others signals and each elicit a response from the other
What are the two pieces of research on reciprocity?
1) Tronik et al (1979
2) Murray & Trevarthen (1985)
What was the study Tronik et al (1979)
1) Asked mothers who has been enjoying a dialogue with their baby to stop moving and maintain a static, unsmiling expression on their faces
2) Babies tried to tempt the mother into interaction by smiling themselves
3) Babies became puzzled and increasingly distress when their smile did not provoke the “usual” response
What was the study Murray & Trevarthen (1985)?
2 month old infant study
1) Infants interacted with their mothers via a video monitor in real time
2) Next, the video monitor played a recoding of their mother, so the image on the screens was not responding
3) Now the infants displayed acute distress
What is interactional synchrony in attachment?
When the caregiver-infant interaction mirrors one another, and happen at the same time
- this can be mirrored emotions, and/or behaviour e.g. smiling at each other
What are the two studies for interactional synchrony?
1) Isabella et al (1989)
2) Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
What is the Isabella et al (1989) study?
30 mothers and infants were assessed.
Found that:
- high levels of interactional synchrony was associated with better quality mother-infant attachement (emotional quality of the relationship’
What was the Meltzoff and Moore (1977) study?
Controlled observation into interactional synchrony in infants
1) An adult model displayed one of three facial expressions
2) A dummy was placed in the infants mouth initially to prevent any response.
3) Following the display, the dummy was removed and the child’s expression was filmed.
4) Infants as young as three days old imitate the facial expressions of adults
This implies that the ability to mirror is an innate behaviour.
What are the strengths of caregiver interactions and its research?
1) The typical method of research are controlled observations - fine detail of behaviour can be recorded and analysed
2) No demand characteristics - babies don’t know that they are being observed
3) Many investigations have returned consistent findings with good validity
What are the weaknesses of caregiver interactions and its research?
1) It’s impossible to tell what is taking place from the infants perspective
2) We can’t tell if their behaviours having a deliberate meaning or just pure coincidence
What are the four stages of attachement which Schaffer proposed?
All Infants Say Mum
1) Asocial stage
2) Indiscriminate attachments
3) Specific attachement
4) Multiple attachements
At what age does the asocial stage typically occur?
0-6 weeks
What happens at the asocial stage?
- Infants produce similar response to objects and people
- Preference for faces/eyes
- Very young infants are asocial in that many kinds of stimuli (both social and non-social) produce favourable reaction
At what ages do indiscriminate attachments form?
6 weeks - 7 months
What happens during the indiscriminate attachement stage?
- infants enjoy human company
- they respond equally to any caregiver
- get upset when an individual ceases to interact with them
- from three months, infants smile more at familiar faces
What happens during the specific attachement stage?
- infants shown preference for one caregiver
- infant looks to particular people for security, comfort and protection
- infant shows fear of strangers (stranger fear/anxiety)
- infant shows unhappiness when separated from a special person (separation anxiety)
