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Infancy
period of childhood from birth up to one year
Attachment
A two way, emotional bond between two individuals, where they see eachother
as essential for emotional security.
seperation distress
anxiety experienced when the attachment figure leaves/is absent
secure base behaviour
Even when we are independent of our attachment figures we tend to make
regular contact with them.
Proximity
People stay physically close to who they are attracted to
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, Two component of Caregiver-infant interaction
-reciprocity
-interactional synchrony
Reciprocity
A description of how two people interact. Mother-infant interaction is
reciprocal as both infant and mother respond to each other's signals.
Feldman and Eidelman - what did they explore?
Babies have 'alert' phases where they signal they are ready for interaction and
mothers typically pick up on it.
Feldman - (reciprocity) what did he explore?
from 3 months, this interaction grows more frequent and involves closer
attention to each other's signals.
Brazleton - what did he explore?
Baby is in as much of an active role as mother, as both initiate interactions. This
is described as a 'dance' because they respond to each other.
interactional synchrony
the coordination of micro-level behaviour, mother and infant reflect actions &
emotions of each other in a synchronised way.
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, Feldman (interactional synchrony) - what did he explore?
Interactional synchrony can be defined as the 'coordination of micro level
social behaviour'
Meltzoff and Moore IS
Observed beginning of IS infants from 2 weeks old
Adult did 1 out of 2 gestures
Child's response was filmed and identified
Association was found between expression and action of baby
Isabella et al IS
Observed 30 mothers + infants
Assess degree of synchrony
And quality of attachment
Found high synchrony, high attachment
What are the studies on Father Attachment figures?
-Emmerson parent-infant
-Grossman role of the father
-field primary carers
Findings of Emmerson parent-infant attachment study?
-majority of babies become attached to mother first (around 7 months)
-few weeks after, forms secondary attachments to other family
-75% of infants formed attachment to father by 18 months
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