Attachment
Introduction to Attachment
Caregiver-Infant Interactions
Reciprocity
From birth, babies + their mothers/carers spend a lot of time in intense and
pleasurable interaction. Babies have periodic 'alert phases' + signal that they
are ready for interaction. Mothers pick up on + respond to infant alertness
around 2/3 of the time (Feldman + Eidelman 2007).
From around 3 months this interaction tends to be increasingly frequent and
involves close attention to each other's verbal signals + facial expressions
(Feldman 2007). Mother-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both infant +
mother respond to each other's signals and each elicits a response from the
other, e.g. a smiling parent results in a smiling baby. Such interactions
between the infant + carer facilitate and strengthen the attachment bond.
Interactional Synchrony
Two people are said to be 'synchronised' when they carry out the same
action simultaneously. Interactional synchrony takes place when mother +
infant interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other.
Meltzoff + Moore (1977) observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony
in infants. An adult displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions or 1 of 3 distinctive
gestures. The child's response was identified by independent observers. An
association was found between the expression/gesture the adult had
displayed + the actions of the babies.
It’s believed that interactional synchrony is important for the development of
mother-infant attachment. Isabella et al. (1989) observed 30 mothers +
infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony. The researchers also
assessed the quality of mother-infant attachment. They found that high levels
of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachment.
,Evaluation
It’s Hard to Know What is Happening When Observing Infants
Many studies involving observation of interactions between mothers +
infants have shown the same patterns of interaction.
However, what’s being observed is just hand movements or changes in
expression.
It’s extremely difficult to be certain, based on these observations, what’s
taking place from the infant's perspective.
E.g. is the infant's imitation of adult signals conscious + deliberate?
This means that we can’t really know for certain that behaviours seen in
mother-infant interaction have a special meaning – studies may lack
validity.
Controlled Observations Capture Fine Detail
Observations of mother-infant interactions are well-controlled procedures,
with both mother + infant being filmed, often from multiple angles.
This ensures that very fine details of behaviour can be recorded + later
analysed.
Furthermore, babies don't know/care that they are being observed so their
behaviour doesn’t change in response to controlled observation – which is
a problem for observational research.
This is a strength because it means the research has good validity.
Attachment Figures
Parent-Infant Attachment
Schaffer + Emersorn (1964) found that the majority of babies did become
attached to their mother first (around 7 months) + within a few weeks/months
formed secondary attachments to other family members, including the
father. In 75% of the infants studied an attachment was formed with the father
by the age of 18 months. This was determined by the fact that the infants
protested when their father walked away – a sign of attachment.
The Role of the Father
Grosman (2002) carried out a longitudinal study looking at both parents'
behaviour + its relationship to the quality of children's attachments into their
teens. Quality of infant attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to
,children's attachments in adolescence, suggesting that father attachment was
less important.
However, the quality of fathers' play with infants was related to the quality of
adolescent attachments. This suggests that fathers have a different role in
attachment – one that’s more to do with play + stimulation, and less to do with
nurturing + comfort.
Fathers as Primary Carers
There’s evidence to suggest that when fathers do take on the role of being
the main caregiver they adopt behaviours more typical of mothers.
Field (1978) filmed 4-month-old babies in face-to-face interaction with
primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers + primary
caregiver fathers.
Primary caregiver fathers (like mothers) spent more time smiling, imitating
+ holding infants than the secondary caregiver fathers.
This behaviour appears to be important in building an attachment with the
infant.
So fathers can be the more nurturing attachment figure.
The key to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness not
the gender of the parent.
Evaluation
If Fathers Have a Distinct Role, Why Aren't Children Without Fathers
Different?
The study by Grossman found that fathers as secondary attachment
figures had an important role in their children's development.
However, MacCallum + Golombok (2004) have found that children
growing up in single/same-sex parent families do not develop any
differently from those in two-parent heterosexual families.
This would seem to suggest that the father's role as a secondary
attachment figure is not important.
Why Don't Fathers Generally Become Primary Attachments?
The fact that fathers don’t tend to become the primary attachment figure
could be the result of traditional gender roles – women are expected to be
more caring + nurturing than men.
Therefore, fathers don't feel they should act like that.
, On the other hand, it could be that female hormones (i.e. oestrogen) create
higher levels of nurturing – therefore women are biologically pre-disposed
to be the primary attachment figure.
However, evidence from Lamb (1987) found fathers who became the main
care providers are able to adapt quickly to develop greater sensitivity to the
child’s needs.
This suggests sensitivity + responsiveness to the child isn’t a biological
ability limited to women.
Introduction to Attachment
Caregiver-Infant Interactions
Reciprocity
From birth, babies + their mothers/carers spend a lot of time in intense and
pleasurable interaction. Babies have periodic 'alert phases' + signal that they
are ready for interaction. Mothers pick up on + respond to infant alertness
around 2/3 of the time (Feldman + Eidelman 2007).
From around 3 months this interaction tends to be increasingly frequent and
involves close attention to each other's verbal signals + facial expressions
(Feldman 2007). Mother-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both infant +
mother respond to each other's signals and each elicits a response from the
other, e.g. a smiling parent results in a smiling baby. Such interactions
between the infant + carer facilitate and strengthen the attachment bond.
Interactional Synchrony
Two people are said to be 'synchronised' when they carry out the same
action simultaneously. Interactional synchrony takes place when mother +
infant interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other.
Meltzoff + Moore (1977) observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony
in infants. An adult displayed 1 of 3 facial expressions or 1 of 3 distinctive
gestures. The child's response was identified by independent observers. An
association was found between the expression/gesture the adult had
displayed + the actions of the babies.
It’s believed that interactional synchrony is important for the development of
mother-infant attachment. Isabella et al. (1989) observed 30 mothers +
infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony. The researchers also
assessed the quality of mother-infant attachment. They found that high levels
of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachment.
,Evaluation
It’s Hard to Know What is Happening When Observing Infants
Many studies involving observation of interactions between mothers +
infants have shown the same patterns of interaction.
However, what’s being observed is just hand movements or changes in
expression.
It’s extremely difficult to be certain, based on these observations, what’s
taking place from the infant's perspective.
E.g. is the infant's imitation of adult signals conscious + deliberate?
This means that we can’t really know for certain that behaviours seen in
mother-infant interaction have a special meaning – studies may lack
validity.
Controlled Observations Capture Fine Detail
Observations of mother-infant interactions are well-controlled procedures,
with both mother + infant being filmed, often from multiple angles.
This ensures that very fine details of behaviour can be recorded + later
analysed.
Furthermore, babies don't know/care that they are being observed so their
behaviour doesn’t change in response to controlled observation – which is
a problem for observational research.
This is a strength because it means the research has good validity.
Attachment Figures
Parent-Infant Attachment
Schaffer + Emersorn (1964) found that the majority of babies did become
attached to their mother first (around 7 months) + within a few weeks/months
formed secondary attachments to other family members, including the
father. In 75% of the infants studied an attachment was formed with the father
by the age of 18 months. This was determined by the fact that the infants
protested when their father walked away – a sign of attachment.
The Role of the Father
Grosman (2002) carried out a longitudinal study looking at both parents'
behaviour + its relationship to the quality of children's attachments into their
teens. Quality of infant attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to
,children's attachments in adolescence, suggesting that father attachment was
less important.
However, the quality of fathers' play with infants was related to the quality of
adolescent attachments. This suggests that fathers have a different role in
attachment – one that’s more to do with play + stimulation, and less to do with
nurturing + comfort.
Fathers as Primary Carers
There’s evidence to suggest that when fathers do take on the role of being
the main caregiver they adopt behaviours more typical of mothers.
Field (1978) filmed 4-month-old babies in face-to-face interaction with
primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers + primary
caregiver fathers.
Primary caregiver fathers (like mothers) spent more time smiling, imitating
+ holding infants than the secondary caregiver fathers.
This behaviour appears to be important in building an attachment with the
infant.
So fathers can be the more nurturing attachment figure.
The key to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness not
the gender of the parent.
Evaluation
If Fathers Have a Distinct Role, Why Aren't Children Without Fathers
Different?
The study by Grossman found that fathers as secondary attachment
figures had an important role in their children's development.
However, MacCallum + Golombok (2004) have found that children
growing up in single/same-sex parent families do not develop any
differently from those in two-parent heterosexual families.
This would seem to suggest that the father's role as a secondary
attachment figure is not important.
Why Don't Fathers Generally Become Primary Attachments?
The fact that fathers don’t tend to become the primary attachment figure
could be the result of traditional gender roles – women are expected to be
more caring + nurturing than men.
Therefore, fathers don't feel they should act like that.
, On the other hand, it could be that female hormones (i.e. oestrogen) create
higher levels of nurturing – therefore women are biologically pre-disposed
to be the primary attachment figure.
However, evidence from Lamb (1987) found fathers who became the main
care providers are able to adapt quickly to develop greater sensitivity to the
child’s needs.
This suggests sensitivity + responsiveness to the child isn’t a biological
ability limited to women.
