Attachment

Attachment

1. Caregiver-Infant Interactions

   • Reciprocity
     • Mothers respond to infant alertness. From 3 months close attention between mother and infant.
   • Interactional Synchrony
     • Interactions become co-ordinated.
   • Evaluation
     • Hard to know what is happening
       • Observe simple gesture and expression, and assume infant's intentions
     • Controlled observations
       • Capture fine detail of interactions
     • Purpose of synchrony and reciprocity
       • Feldman: just observations, purpose not entirely understood

2. Attachment Figures

   • Parent-Infant
     • Traditionally mother-infant, other attachment figures like the father may also be important
   • The role of the father
     • Grossman et al.: attachement to fathers less important but fathers may have a different role - play and stimulation
   • Fathers as primary carers
     • Field: fathers as primary carers adopt attachment behaviour more typical of mothers
   • Evaluation
     • Inconsistent findings