Introduction to attachment
Key terms
Reciprocity- A description of how two people interact. Mother -infant interaction
is reciprocal in that both infant and mother respond to each other’s signals and
each elicits a response from the other.
Interactional synchrony- Mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions
of the other and do tis in a coordinated (synchronised) way.
Caregiver-infant interactions- Reciprocity
- From birth babies signal when they are ready to interact (alert phases).
- From 3 months this interaction becomes increasingly frequent.
- An interaction is reciprocal when each person responds to the other and
elicits a response from them.
- Traditional views have babies taking a passive role, but both mother and
child can initiate interactions.
Caregiver-infant interactions- Interactional synchrony
- Interactional synchrony is when mother and infant reflect both the actions
and emotions of the other and do this in a synchronised way.
- Interactional synchrony begins as young as 2 weeks old.
→ An adult displayed 1/3 facial expressions & the child’s response was
filmed and identified by independent observers.
→ An association was found between the expression the adult
displayed and the actions of the babies.
- It is thought that interactional synchrony is important for the development
of mother-infant attachment.
→ A study found that high levels of synchrony was associated with
better quality mother-infant attachment.
Evaluation- It is hard to know what is happening when observing infants
- What is being observed may be merely hand movements or changes in
expression.
- It is difficult to be certain, based on these observations, what is taking
place from the infant’s perspective.
- This means we cannot know for sure that certain behaviours seen in
mother-infant attachment have a meaning.
Evaluation- Controlled observations capture detail
- Observations are generally well-controlled procedures, with mother and
infant being filmed from many angles.
→ This ensures that fine details of behaviour are recorded and later
analysed.
- Babies don’t know or care that they are being observed, so their
behaviour does not change in response to controlled observation (usually
a problem for observational research).
- This is a strength because it means the research has good validity.
Key terms
Reciprocity- A description of how two people interact. Mother -infant interaction
is reciprocal in that both infant and mother respond to each other’s signals and
each elicits a response from the other.
Interactional synchrony- Mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions
of the other and do tis in a coordinated (synchronised) way.
Caregiver-infant interactions- Reciprocity
- From birth babies signal when they are ready to interact (alert phases).
- From 3 months this interaction becomes increasingly frequent.
- An interaction is reciprocal when each person responds to the other and
elicits a response from them.
- Traditional views have babies taking a passive role, but both mother and
child can initiate interactions.
Caregiver-infant interactions- Interactional synchrony
- Interactional synchrony is when mother and infant reflect both the actions
and emotions of the other and do this in a synchronised way.
- Interactional synchrony begins as young as 2 weeks old.
→ An adult displayed 1/3 facial expressions & the child’s response was
filmed and identified by independent observers.
→ An association was found between the expression the adult
displayed and the actions of the babies.
- It is thought that interactional synchrony is important for the development
of mother-infant attachment.
→ A study found that high levels of synchrony was associated with
better quality mother-infant attachment.
Evaluation- It is hard to know what is happening when observing infants
- What is being observed may be merely hand movements or changes in
expression.
- It is difficult to be certain, based on these observations, what is taking
place from the infant’s perspective.
- This means we cannot know for sure that certain behaviours seen in
mother-infant attachment have a meaning.
Evaluation- Controlled observations capture detail
- Observations are generally well-controlled procedures, with mother and
infant being filmed from many angles.
→ This ensures that fine details of behaviour are recorded and later
analysed.
- Babies don’t know or care that they are being observed, so their
behaviour does not change in response to controlled observation (usually
a problem for observational research).
- This is a strength because it means the research has good validity.
