Attachment
Caregiver-infant interactions
Reciprocity- responding to the action with a similar action,
two-way mutual process (turn-taking) which elicits a response
from the other
(+) reciprocity – Brazelton: found that when mothers played
with infants, the infant would respond with smooth circular
movements, however, when mothers stopped responding, they
became jerky and had an averted gaze
Interactional synchrony- mirror what each other is doing,
including emotions and behaviours to sustain communication
(+) interactional synchrony - Meltzoff and Moore: found that
when babies where shown facial gestures and a manual gesture,
their responses mirrored the gestures
(+) practical applications- antenatal classes
(+) high control
(-) low population validity – 6 infants
, Attachment
Stages of attachment
Schaffer's stages of attachment
- Asocial: first few weeks- similar behaviour to humans and non-
humans
- Indiscriminate: 2-7 months- preference to humans and
familiar people but accept affection equally
- Specific: 7 months- separation and stranger anxiety occur and
formed a specific attachment
- Multiple: 8-12 months – multiple attachments to those other
than primary attachment figure
(+) Schaffer and Emerson found that after studying 60 babies from
working class families, every month for a year and then at 18 months,
by 6-8 months babies showed separation anxiety and by 18 months
most babies had a second attachment figure
(+) longitudinal
(+) high ecological validity
(-) self-report data
Caregiver-infant interactions
Reciprocity- responding to the action with a similar action,
two-way mutual process (turn-taking) which elicits a response
from the other
(+) reciprocity – Brazelton: found that when mothers played
with infants, the infant would respond with smooth circular
movements, however, when mothers stopped responding, they
became jerky and had an averted gaze
Interactional synchrony- mirror what each other is doing,
including emotions and behaviours to sustain communication
(+) interactional synchrony - Meltzoff and Moore: found that
when babies where shown facial gestures and a manual gesture,
their responses mirrored the gestures
(+) practical applications- antenatal classes
(+) high control
(-) low population validity – 6 infants
, Attachment
Stages of attachment
Schaffer's stages of attachment
- Asocial: first few weeks- similar behaviour to humans and non-
humans
- Indiscriminate: 2-7 months- preference to humans and
familiar people but accept affection equally
- Specific: 7 months- separation and stranger anxiety occur and
formed a specific attachment
- Multiple: 8-12 months – multiple attachments to those other
than primary attachment figure
(+) Schaffer and Emerson found that after studying 60 babies from
working class families, every month for a year and then at 18 months,
by 6-8 months babies showed separation anxiety and by 18 months
most babies had a second attachment figure
(+) longitudinal
(+) high ecological validity
(-) self-report data
