Attachment

Attachment

1. Caregiver - infant interactions

   • Reciprocity - both individuals respond to each others cues.
     • Responses don't have to be the same.
     • Feldman - Mothers typically pick up on and respond to alertness 2 thirds of the time
     • Still faced experiment
       • Distress shows that interaction is essential for healthy attachment.
   • Interactional synchrony
     • Reflect actions and emotions of each other in a co-ordinated way
     • Meltzoff and Moore
       • Children as young as 3 initiate specific hand and facial gestures. Later found some as early as 3 days
       • Suggest that synchrony is a pre-programmed skill intended to aid in forming attachments.

2. Schaffer's stages of attachment

   • Stage 1: Asocial -First few weeks -Response to objects and humans is similar.
   • Stage 2: Indiscriminate -2-7 months -Observable social behaviours -Preference for people over objects -Recognise familiar adults -No separation or stranger anxiety.
   • Stage 3: Specific -Around 7 months -Start of stranger anxiety -Separation anxiety -Primary attachment figure.
   • Stage 4: Multiple -1 month after primary -Secondary attachments -29% had second within 1 mth of primary -Multiple by age of 1

3. What is it?

   • Two way emotional bond where each individual is essential for the others emotional security.
   • Recognised by...
     • Proximity
     • Separation distress
     • Secure-base behaviour