Attachment
Contents
Basics of attachment Pg 01
Reciprocity & IS Pg 01
Stages of attachment Pg 04
Role of the father Pg 05
Animal studies Pg 06
Explanations for attachment Pg 07
ASS Pg 09
Cultural variations (ASS) Pg 11
Maternal deprivation hypothesis Pg
Romanian orphan studies Pg
Influence of early attachment Pg
1
,Basics of attachment
What is attachment?
Attachment is a two-way enduring emotional tie between a pair. Each seeks closeness and
feels more secure when in presence of attachment figure.
Attachment is important for:
- Survival
- Emotional health of child
- Cognitive development
Behaviors when two attached people are separated include seeking proximity, distress on
separation and joy on reunion.
Reciprocity caregiver and infant responds to the other signals to sustain interaction
Interactional synchrony interaction is rhythmic – infant and caregiver behave as one
Research into reciprocity and interactional synchrony
Meltzoff and Moore (1997) investigated interactional synchrony:
A Investigate interactional synchrony
P 18 babies 12-27 days old put under controlled observation
Exposed to 4 stimuli (3 facial gestures and 1 manual, *)
Baby’s response observed and actions recorded
Independent observer noted all instances of tongue protrusion and read
each movement using pre-ordained behavioral categories (scored twice)
F Babies more likely to match expression and gesture than chance could
predict – association was significant
C Ability to engage in IS is innate and serves important building block for
later social and cognitive development
[Condon and Sander also investigated interactional synchrony]
Tronick’s (1975) ‘still face experiment’:
A Investigate reciprocity
P 7 mothers and infants from 1-4 months,
3 mins normal interaction / 3 mins expressionless
F After expressionless, baby “rapidly sobers and grows wary”
Makes repeated attempts to get interaction back to usual reciprocal pattern
When failed, infant withdraws and orients face and body away from
mother w withdrawn, hopeless expression
C Reciprocity forms basis for psychological well-being in early infancy
Necessary for infants to regulate emotions
Makes an impact on women suffering from post-natal depression / w drug
addictions
2
, Evaluation:
Pratical application – therapy and parent training
o Parents who experienced disruption of attachment can overcome issues
o External validity improves outcomes in high-risk parents and their infants
Tronick’s research easily replicated as procedures standardized
o Used for cultural differences, parents w mental illnesses, infants w autism, etc
o Research has high external reliability
Questionable reliability of testing children
o Infants move mouths and raise arms constantly (not intentional behaviour)
o May not actually have been engaged in reciprocity / interactional synchrony
Methodological problems – observation
o Researcher bias
o Koepke didn’t replicate findings of M&M
o Lack of reliability, more research needed to validate findings
Individual differences (M&M)
o Only securely attached infants engage in interactional synchrony
o Isabella found that more secure infants = more interactional synchrony
o Not all children engage in this process,
General problems w studying infants:
- Lack of ecological validity
o Conducted in labs under controlled environment
o Overt observation (Tronick), parents DC as shown more care
- Observer bias
o Can be overcome by using double-blind
- Infants have limited alertness
o Sleep for 18+ hours a day
o Wake for short periods of time
o Overcome by studying baby when it has just woken / only for short periods
- Ethical issues
o E.g., protection from harm
o Ensure baby doesn’t experience harm to everyday life
o Give guardian right to withdraw and fully informed consent
3
Contents
Basics of attachment Pg 01
Reciprocity & IS Pg 01
Stages of attachment Pg 04
Role of the father Pg 05
Animal studies Pg 06
Explanations for attachment Pg 07
ASS Pg 09
Cultural variations (ASS) Pg 11
Maternal deprivation hypothesis Pg
Romanian orphan studies Pg
Influence of early attachment Pg
1
,Basics of attachment
What is attachment?
Attachment is a two-way enduring emotional tie between a pair. Each seeks closeness and
feels more secure when in presence of attachment figure.
Attachment is important for:
- Survival
- Emotional health of child
- Cognitive development
Behaviors when two attached people are separated include seeking proximity, distress on
separation and joy on reunion.
Reciprocity caregiver and infant responds to the other signals to sustain interaction
Interactional synchrony interaction is rhythmic – infant and caregiver behave as one
Research into reciprocity and interactional synchrony
Meltzoff and Moore (1997) investigated interactional synchrony:
A Investigate interactional synchrony
P 18 babies 12-27 days old put under controlled observation
Exposed to 4 stimuli (3 facial gestures and 1 manual, *)
Baby’s response observed and actions recorded
Independent observer noted all instances of tongue protrusion and read
each movement using pre-ordained behavioral categories (scored twice)
F Babies more likely to match expression and gesture than chance could
predict – association was significant
C Ability to engage in IS is innate and serves important building block for
later social and cognitive development
[Condon and Sander also investigated interactional synchrony]
Tronick’s (1975) ‘still face experiment’:
A Investigate reciprocity
P 7 mothers and infants from 1-4 months,
3 mins normal interaction / 3 mins expressionless
F After expressionless, baby “rapidly sobers and grows wary”
Makes repeated attempts to get interaction back to usual reciprocal pattern
When failed, infant withdraws and orients face and body away from
mother w withdrawn, hopeless expression
C Reciprocity forms basis for psychological well-being in early infancy
Necessary for infants to regulate emotions
Makes an impact on women suffering from post-natal depression / w drug
addictions
2
, Evaluation:
Pratical application – therapy and parent training
o Parents who experienced disruption of attachment can overcome issues
o External validity improves outcomes in high-risk parents and their infants
Tronick’s research easily replicated as procedures standardized
o Used for cultural differences, parents w mental illnesses, infants w autism, etc
o Research has high external reliability
Questionable reliability of testing children
o Infants move mouths and raise arms constantly (not intentional behaviour)
o May not actually have been engaged in reciprocity / interactional synchrony
Methodological problems – observation
o Researcher bias
o Koepke didn’t replicate findings of M&M
o Lack of reliability, more research needed to validate findings
Individual differences (M&M)
o Only securely attached infants engage in interactional synchrony
o Isabella found that more secure infants = more interactional synchrony
o Not all children engage in this process,
General problems w studying infants:
- Lack of ecological validity
o Conducted in labs under controlled environment
o Overt observation (Tronick), parents DC as shown more care
- Observer bias
o Can be overcome by using double-blind
- Infants have limited alertness
o Sleep for 18+ hours a day
o Wake for short periods of time
o Overcome by studying baby when it has just woken / only for short periods
- Ethical issues
o E.g., protection from harm
o Ensure baby doesn’t experience harm to everyday life
o Give guardian right to withdraw and fully informed consent
3
