Attachment

Attachment

1. Caregiver-Infant Interactions

   • Reciprocity
     • Babies have periodic 'alert phases' and signal they're ready for interaction
       • Feldman & Eidelman 2007
         • Found that mothers tend to pick up on those signals 2/3s of the time
     • At 3 months interactions become increasingly frequent and involve close attention to each other's facial expressions and verbal signals
     • An interaction is 'reciprocal' when each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them
       • Brazleton et al 1975
         • Describes reciprocity as a 'dance' because each partner responds to the other's moves
     • Both mother and baby can initiate an interaction so both play an active role in attachment, despite traditional views that the baby is passive
   • Interactional Synchrony
     • Two people are said to be 'synchronised' they carry out the same action simultaneously, here when mother and infant interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other
     • Feldman 2007
       • 'the temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour'
     • Meltzoff & Moore 1977
       • Observed interactional synchrony at as young as 2 weeks. An adult displayed one of 3 facial expressions or one of 3 gestures. The response was filmed and identified by independent observers. An association was found between the expression/gesture shown by the adult and the action of the baby
     • Isabella et al 1989
       • Observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony. Then also assessed the quality of the mother-infant attachment. The found high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachments
   • Evaluation of caregiver-infant interaction
     • Strengths
       • The procedures are mainly well-controlled so have high validity
         • Filming (often from several angles) means very fine details can be recorded, rewatched and analysed later
         • Babies don't know they're being filmed so won't adapt their behaviour due to demand characteristics
       • Potential value to society as identification of interactional synchrony is an important foundation for high-quality attachments and could encourage practical implications
     • Weaknesses
       • Difficult to understand happenings when observing infants and therefore we cannot be certain that behaviours have particular meanings
         • Gratier 2003
           • Showed that mother-infant attachments have shown the same patterns of behaviour however what is being observed is merely hand movements or changes of expression
             • The infants imitation could not be conscious or deliberate
       • Research is extremely socially sensitive .
         • Suggests that children may be disadvantaged by their upbringing (e.g. if mother returns to work shortly after childbirth) which implies that they should stay at home and this could be seen as sexist

2. The 'Glasgow Babies experiment

   • Rudolf Schaffer and Peggy Emerson 1964
     • Method
       • Involved 60 babies (31 males and 29 females) from working-class families in Glasgow
         • The babies and mothers were visited at home every month for the first year, and again at 18 months.
           • They used seperation anxiety to measure attachment by asking mothers questions about the types of protest shown in 7 everyday situations e.g. an adult leaving the room or the babies response to unfamiliar adults
     • Findings
       • Half the children showed their first specific attachment (separation protest with respect to one care-giver) between 6 and 8 months. Fears of strangers then occurred in later months
       • Soon after the primary attachment is formed, infants become attached to other people. By 18 months only 13% were attached to one person and 31% had 5 or more attachments. In 65% the first attachment was to their mother and only 3% to fathers
       • In 39% of cases the primary caregiver was not the same person who fed, bathed and changed the child.
       • Strength of attachment peaked in the first month after attachment behaviour was first shown. However, large individual difference were also shown.(e.g. Intensely attached infants had mothers who responded quickly to their demands whereas weakly attached infants had mothers who didn't react.)
     • Schaffer's stages of attachment (and multiple attachment)
       • Stage 1: Asocial stage (0-2 months)
         • Despite term 'asocial' used, the baby begins the process of recognising and forming bonds with their caregivers. However babies response to inanimate objects is also similar. They show some preference to particular adults in that they find it easier to calm the child. Babies are also happier when in the presence of other humans.
         • Stage 2: Indiscriminate social responsiveness (2-7 months)
           • Stage 3: Specific attachment (7-24 months)
             • Stage 4: Multiple attachment (by 1 year)
               • Shortly after the primary attachment is formed, the baby tends to develop multiple attachments with other people that they interact regularly with- known as secondary attachments. The study showed that ithin 1 month 29% of children had a secondary attachment and by the age of 1 the majority had.
             • Stranger anxiety towards unfamiliar people and separation anxiety when not in contact with a particular person becomes present at this stage. This person is known as the primary attachment figure and is generally the person who shows most skill in responding to the babies alert phases for interaction and their signals.
           • Babies display more observable social behaviour, preferring company and distinguishing between familiar and unfamiliar people. Yet, no real signs of stranger or separation anxiety yet. The main difference being their increased sociability.
     • Evaluation of Schaffer and Emerson 1964
       • Strengths
       • Weaknesses