ATTACHMENT
Caregiver-infant interactions
-babies have meaningful social interactions with their carers from the start, which have
important functions for the child’s social development
Reciprocity
Reciprocity: caregiver-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both caregiver and baby respond
to each other’s signals, and each elicits a response from the other.
-for example, a caregiver may respond to her baby’s smile by saying something and then this
in turn elicits a response from her baby
-this kind of interaction is also known as ‘turn-taking’.
Alert phases – babies have periodic ‘alert phases’ when they signal that they are ready to
interact. Research shows that mothers typically pick up on and respond to their baby’s
alertness around 2/3 of the time (Feldman and Eidelman) although this varies according to
the skill of the mother and factors such as stress (Finegood et al). From around 3 months,
this interaction becomes increasingly frequent and involves both mother and baby paying
close attention to each other’s verbal signals and facial expressions (Feldman).
Active involvement – traditional views portray babies as passive, receiving care from an
adult. But babies, as well as caregivers, actually take an active role. Both caregiver and baby
can initiate interactions and they appear to take turns in doing so. Brazelton et al described
this interaction as a ‘dance’ as it is just like a couple’s dance where each partner responds to
the other’s moves.
Interactional synchrony
Interactional synchrony: caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the
other and do this in a co-ordinated way.
-like synchronised swimmers, carrying out the same action simultaneously.
-Feldman defines it as the ‘temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour’.
Synchrony begins – Meltzoff and Moore observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony
in babies as young as 2 weeks old. An adult displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions/ distinctive
gestures. The baby’s response was filmed and labelled by independent observers. And were
more likely to mirror those of the adults more than chance would predict.
Importance for attachment – interactional synchrony is important for the development of
caregiver-infant attachment. Isabella et al observed 30 mothers and babies together and
assessed the degree of synchrony and they also assessed the quality of mother-baby
attachment. They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality
mother-baby attachment.
+FILMED OBSERVATIONS
Caregiver-infant interactions are usually filmed in a laboratory, meaning that other activity
that may distract a baby can be controlled. Using films means observations can be recorded
and analysed later, making it unlikely for researchers to miss key behaviours. Having filmed
interactions also means more than one observer can record data and establish the inter-
rater reliability of observations. Babies don’t know they’re being observed so their
behaviour does not change in response to observation, so the data collected should have
good reliability and validity.
,-DIFFICULTY OBSERVING BABIES
Hard to interpret a baby’s behaviour as young babies lack co-ordination and much of their
bodies are almost immobile. The movements being observed are small hand movements or
subtle changes in expression, making it hard to be sure whether a baby’s behaviour is
intentional.
-DEVELOPMENTAL IMPORTANCE
Simply observing a behaviour doesn’t tell us its developmental importance. Feldman points
out that ideas like synchrony just give names to patterns of observable caregiver and baby
behaviours. These can be reliably observed but they still may not be useful in understanding
child development, as it doesn’t explain the purpose of the behaviours.
C/A: Evidence from research to suggest early interactions are important. Isabella et al found
that achievement of interactional synchrony predicted the development of a good quality
attachment, so CGI is probably important in development.
Research into CGI has practical applications in parenting skills training. Crotwell et al found
that a 10-minute Parent-Child Interaction Therapy improved interactional synchrony in 20
low-income mothers and their pre-school children.
Socially sensitive research- can be used to argue that when a mother returns to work soon
after having a baby, this may risk damaging their baby’s development.
Schaffer’s stages of attachment
Stages of attachment: many developmental theories identify a sequence of qualitatively
different behaviours linked to specific ages. In the case of ‘stages of attachment’,
qualitatively different infant behaviours are linked to specific ages, and all babies go through
them in the same order.
Stage 1: Asocial stage
-baby’s first few weeks of life
-behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is fairly similar. Schaffer and Emerson
said babies tend to show a preference for the company of familiar people and are more
easily comforted by them.
-at this stage the baby forms bonds with certain people and these form the basis of later
attachments.
Stage 2: Indiscriminate attachment
-2-7months
-more obvious and observable social behaviours
-show a clear preference for being with other humans rather than inanimate objects.
-recognise and prefer the company of familiar people
-but they still accept comfort from any person
-do not show separation or stranger anxiety
Stage 3: Specific attachment
-from 7 months, babies start to display classic signs of attachment towards one particular
person.
-signs include stranger and separation anxiety
-this person with whom the attachment is formed is called the primary attachment figure;
not necessarily the individual the child spends most time with but the one who offers the
, most interaction and responds to the baby’s signals with the most skill (baby’s mother in
65% of cases).
Stage 4: Multiple attachments
-extension of the attachment behaviour to other people with whom they regularly spend
time (secondary attachments)
-Schaffer and Emerson observed that 29% of the children formed secondary attachments
within a month of forming a primary attachment.
-by 1yr, the majority of babies had developed multiple attachments
Schaffer and Emerson’s research
-they based their stages on an observational study of the formation of early infant-adult
attachments
Procedure:
-60 babies, 31 boys, 29 girls, from Glasgow, skilled WC families
-researchers visited babies and mothers in their own homes every month for the first year
and again at 18mo.
-researchers asked mothers questions about the kind of protest their babies showed in 7
everyday separations e.g., adult leaving the room.
-designed to measure the babies’ attachment.
Findings:
-identified 4 distinct stages in the development of infant attachment behaviour.
+GOOD EXTERNAL VALIDITY
Most of the observations were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to
the researchers, so it is highly likely that the ppts behaved naturally while being observed.
C/A: Asking the mothers to be the ‘observers’ had issues. They were unlikely to be objective.
They may have been biased in terms of what they noticed and reported, so even of babies
behaved naturally, their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded.
-POOR EVIDENCE FOR THE ASOCIAL STAGE
Young babies have poor co-ordination and are fairly immobile. If babies <2mo felt anxiety,
they may have displayed this in subtle, hard-to-observe ways, making it difficult for mothers
to observe and report back to researchers on signs of anxiety and attachment in this age
group.
+REAL-WORLD APPLICATION
In the asocial and indiscriminate attachment stages day care is likely to be straightforward as
babies can be comforted by any adult. But Schaffer and Emerson’s research tells us that day
care, especially starting day care with an unfamiliar adult, may be problematic during the
specific attachment stage, so parents can plan the use of day care using S&E’s stages.
Their research was large-scale with some good design features.
But they only looked at one sample, which had unique features in terms of the cultural and
historical context – 1960s WC Glasgow. In other cultures, e.g., collectivist, multiple
attachments from a very early age are more the norm (van IJzendoorn).
Caregiver-infant interactions
-babies have meaningful social interactions with their carers from the start, which have
important functions for the child’s social development
Reciprocity
Reciprocity: caregiver-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both caregiver and baby respond
to each other’s signals, and each elicits a response from the other.
-for example, a caregiver may respond to her baby’s smile by saying something and then this
in turn elicits a response from her baby
-this kind of interaction is also known as ‘turn-taking’.
Alert phases – babies have periodic ‘alert phases’ when they signal that they are ready to
interact. Research shows that mothers typically pick up on and respond to their baby’s
alertness around 2/3 of the time (Feldman and Eidelman) although this varies according to
the skill of the mother and factors such as stress (Finegood et al). From around 3 months,
this interaction becomes increasingly frequent and involves both mother and baby paying
close attention to each other’s verbal signals and facial expressions (Feldman).
Active involvement – traditional views portray babies as passive, receiving care from an
adult. But babies, as well as caregivers, actually take an active role. Both caregiver and baby
can initiate interactions and they appear to take turns in doing so. Brazelton et al described
this interaction as a ‘dance’ as it is just like a couple’s dance where each partner responds to
the other’s moves.
Interactional synchrony
Interactional synchrony: caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the
other and do this in a co-ordinated way.
-like synchronised swimmers, carrying out the same action simultaneously.
-Feldman defines it as the ‘temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour’.
Synchrony begins – Meltzoff and Moore observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony
in babies as young as 2 weeks old. An adult displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions/ distinctive
gestures. The baby’s response was filmed and labelled by independent observers. And were
more likely to mirror those of the adults more than chance would predict.
Importance for attachment – interactional synchrony is important for the development of
caregiver-infant attachment. Isabella et al observed 30 mothers and babies together and
assessed the degree of synchrony and they also assessed the quality of mother-baby
attachment. They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality
mother-baby attachment.
+FILMED OBSERVATIONS
Caregiver-infant interactions are usually filmed in a laboratory, meaning that other activity
that may distract a baby can be controlled. Using films means observations can be recorded
and analysed later, making it unlikely for researchers to miss key behaviours. Having filmed
interactions also means more than one observer can record data and establish the inter-
rater reliability of observations. Babies don’t know they’re being observed so their
behaviour does not change in response to observation, so the data collected should have
good reliability and validity.
,-DIFFICULTY OBSERVING BABIES
Hard to interpret a baby’s behaviour as young babies lack co-ordination and much of their
bodies are almost immobile. The movements being observed are small hand movements or
subtle changes in expression, making it hard to be sure whether a baby’s behaviour is
intentional.
-DEVELOPMENTAL IMPORTANCE
Simply observing a behaviour doesn’t tell us its developmental importance. Feldman points
out that ideas like synchrony just give names to patterns of observable caregiver and baby
behaviours. These can be reliably observed but they still may not be useful in understanding
child development, as it doesn’t explain the purpose of the behaviours.
C/A: Evidence from research to suggest early interactions are important. Isabella et al found
that achievement of interactional synchrony predicted the development of a good quality
attachment, so CGI is probably important in development.
Research into CGI has practical applications in parenting skills training. Crotwell et al found
that a 10-minute Parent-Child Interaction Therapy improved interactional synchrony in 20
low-income mothers and their pre-school children.
Socially sensitive research- can be used to argue that when a mother returns to work soon
after having a baby, this may risk damaging their baby’s development.
Schaffer’s stages of attachment
Stages of attachment: many developmental theories identify a sequence of qualitatively
different behaviours linked to specific ages. In the case of ‘stages of attachment’,
qualitatively different infant behaviours are linked to specific ages, and all babies go through
them in the same order.
Stage 1: Asocial stage
-baby’s first few weeks of life
-behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is fairly similar. Schaffer and Emerson
said babies tend to show a preference for the company of familiar people and are more
easily comforted by them.
-at this stage the baby forms bonds with certain people and these form the basis of later
attachments.
Stage 2: Indiscriminate attachment
-2-7months
-more obvious and observable social behaviours
-show a clear preference for being with other humans rather than inanimate objects.
-recognise and prefer the company of familiar people
-but they still accept comfort from any person
-do not show separation or stranger anxiety
Stage 3: Specific attachment
-from 7 months, babies start to display classic signs of attachment towards one particular
person.
-signs include stranger and separation anxiety
-this person with whom the attachment is formed is called the primary attachment figure;
not necessarily the individual the child spends most time with but the one who offers the
, most interaction and responds to the baby’s signals with the most skill (baby’s mother in
65% of cases).
Stage 4: Multiple attachments
-extension of the attachment behaviour to other people with whom they regularly spend
time (secondary attachments)
-Schaffer and Emerson observed that 29% of the children formed secondary attachments
within a month of forming a primary attachment.
-by 1yr, the majority of babies had developed multiple attachments
Schaffer and Emerson’s research
-they based their stages on an observational study of the formation of early infant-adult
attachments
Procedure:
-60 babies, 31 boys, 29 girls, from Glasgow, skilled WC families
-researchers visited babies and mothers in their own homes every month for the first year
and again at 18mo.
-researchers asked mothers questions about the kind of protest their babies showed in 7
everyday separations e.g., adult leaving the room.
-designed to measure the babies’ attachment.
Findings:
-identified 4 distinct stages in the development of infant attachment behaviour.
+GOOD EXTERNAL VALIDITY
Most of the observations were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to
the researchers, so it is highly likely that the ppts behaved naturally while being observed.
C/A: Asking the mothers to be the ‘observers’ had issues. They were unlikely to be objective.
They may have been biased in terms of what they noticed and reported, so even of babies
behaved naturally, their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded.
-POOR EVIDENCE FOR THE ASOCIAL STAGE
Young babies have poor co-ordination and are fairly immobile. If babies <2mo felt anxiety,
they may have displayed this in subtle, hard-to-observe ways, making it difficult for mothers
to observe and report back to researchers on signs of anxiety and attachment in this age
group.
+REAL-WORLD APPLICATION
In the asocial and indiscriminate attachment stages day care is likely to be straightforward as
babies can be comforted by any adult. But Schaffer and Emerson’s research tells us that day
care, especially starting day care with an unfamiliar adult, may be problematic during the
specific attachment stage, so parents can plan the use of day care using S&E’s stages.
Their research was large-scale with some good design features.
But they only looked at one sample, which had unique features in terms of the cultural and
historical context – 1960s WC Glasgow. In other cultures, e.g., collectivist, multiple
attachments from a very early age are more the norm (van IJzendoorn).
