ATTACHMENT
Discuss infant-caregiver interactions
AO1 - Reciprocity
- Responding to an action with another action
- This behaviour is mutual so the mother or baby can respond to each others actions
- This can be used by the mother to help anticipate behaviour
- This forms the foundations of attachment within the first weeks of life
- The infant plays an active role in this interaction
- The importance of this is reinforced by Jaffe et al who found that infants coordinated
their actions with their caregiver
AO1 - Interactional synchrony
- This is demonstrated through mirroring behaviour when interacting with the mother
- The baby can imitate both facial expressions and body movements
- This leads to movement to the rhythm of the carers language and coordination
- There is evidence to support this by Meltzoff and Moore who found that infants would
mimic adults facial expressions and hand movements, which suggested that mimicry
is an innate ability
AO3 - Socially sensitive
Evidence: Isabella et al found that interactional synchrony and reciprocity are important and
essential for developing attachment, but this could imply that mothers who choose to return
to work are restricting opportunities for their child
Exp;anation: This has socially sensitive implications as it suggests that mothers who choose
to return to work will negatively impact the development of their attachment bond with their
child and this could hinder the mothers progression at work and could lead them to feel
restricted
Link: Grossman argues that the father also plays some role and therefore caution should be
taken with this research to ensure it isn’t entirely misused to limit the role of women
AO3 - Cultural differences
Evidence: Le Vine et al found that Kenyan mothers often lack physical contact and
interactional synchrony in their relationship with their infant but there are still high proportions
of secure attachment in Kenya
Explanation: This suggests that the concept of interactional synchrony may not be universal
and while it helps attachment, there may be other factors and this could be more evident in
other cultures where different child-rearing practices lead to different behaviours and
interactions working for different people
However: Papousek et al found that the concept of caregiverese is cross-cultural and was
seen in America, China and Germany, indicating some universal similarities
Link: This implies that some behaviours may be innate but some may not be and there is
some variation across cultures that should be considered when studying attachment in
different cultures
AO3 - Problems testing infants
, Evidence: Gratier suggests that we don’t always know if an infants behaviour is deliberate or
conscious in these type of studies and therefore we cannot fully understand it
Explanation: This implies that these behaviours may play a lesser role than we think from
this research and it is difficult to rely entirely upon this and there may be a weaker link
between this behaviour and the development of attachment
Link: This suggests that we should take more caution when drawing conclusions in this form
of research as we shouldn’t place too much emphasis on this research and strong research
methods should be used as extraneous variables could be a greater threat in this research
AO3 - Research doesn’t give us the purpose of the behaviour
Evidence: Feldman found that while interactional synchrony and reciprocity are effective in
describing behaviour, they fail to identify the purpose of it and therefore cannot fully explain it
Explanation: Therefore, while there is evidence that these behaviours are linked to the
attachment bond formed, their purpose in relation is unknown and we cannot fully explain it
and while there have been suggestions that relate these behaviours to moral development,
empathy and language, there is no evidence to necessarily reinforce this
Link: This suggests that research on this area should not be used for such socially sensitive
considerations e.g. the mother returning to work as it may be exaggerating the importance of
behaviours when we don’t fully know the purpose of these behaviours, so there may not be
as much of an impact on the development as attachment as we think
Describe and evaluate the stages of attachment identified by Schaffer and Emerson
AO1 - Asocial and indiscriminate
- Asocial takes place around 0-7 weeks and this stage involves a preference for
humans over objects, as evident through behaviours like smiling at humans but there
is no distinguishing between humans
- Indiscriminate takes place between 2-7 months and at this stage they can tell the
difference between familiar and unfamiliar people, but lack prejudice or stranger
anxiety
AO1 - Discriminate and multiple
- Discriminate stage takes places at 7-9 months and leads to a strong emotional tie
being formed with the primary caregiver and they develop separation anxiety and
stranger anxiety
- Multiple attachments begin at 9 months and this leads to more attachments being
formed with other relatives or close friends e.g.with the father, grandparents or
siblings but the one strong attachment does remain as the strongest
AO3 - Role of the father
Evidence: Yildirim et al suggests that the fathers role has increased over time and their
involvement has grown
Explanation: This suggests that the findings from Schaffer and Emerson’s study may be less
generalisable to a modern society where the mother has a less significant role and these
stages may not entirely apply, as the multiple attachments could develop earlier due to
spending more time than average with the father
Discuss infant-caregiver interactions
AO1 - Reciprocity
- Responding to an action with another action
- This behaviour is mutual so the mother or baby can respond to each others actions
- This can be used by the mother to help anticipate behaviour
- This forms the foundations of attachment within the first weeks of life
- The infant plays an active role in this interaction
- The importance of this is reinforced by Jaffe et al who found that infants coordinated
their actions with their caregiver
AO1 - Interactional synchrony
- This is demonstrated through mirroring behaviour when interacting with the mother
- The baby can imitate both facial expressions and body movements
- This leads to movement to the rhythm of the carers language and coordination
- There is evidence to support this by Meltzoff and Moore who found that infants would
mimic adults facial expressions and hand movements, which suggested that mimicry
is an innate ability
AO3 - Socially sensitive
Evidence: Isabella et al found that interactional synchrony and reciprocity are important and
essential for developing attachment, but this could imply that mothers who choose to return
to work are restricting opportunities for their child
Exp;anation: This has socially sensitive implications as it suggests that mothers who choose
to return to work will negatively impact the development of their attachment bond with their
child and this could hinder the mothers progression at work and could lead them to feel
restricted
Link: Grossman argues that the father also plays some role and therefore caution should be
taken with this research to ensure it isn’t entirely misused to limit the role of women
AO3 - Cultural differences
Evidence: Le Vine et al found that Kenyan mothers often lack physical contact and
interactional synchrony in their relationship with their infant but there are still high proportions
of secure attachment in Kenya
Explanation: This suggests that the concept of interactional synchrony may not be universal
and while it helps attachment, there may be other factors and this could be more evident in
other cultures where different child-rearing practices lead to different behaviours and
interactions working for different people
However: Papousek et al found that the concept of caregiverese is cross-cultural and was
seen in America, China and Germany, indicating some universal similarities
Link: This implies that some behaviours may be innate but some may not be and there is
some variation across cultures that should be considered when studying attachment in
different cultures
AO3 - Problems testing infants
, Evidence: Gratier suggests that we don’t always know if an infants behaviour is deliberate or
conscious in these type of studies and therefore we cannot fully understand it
Explanation: This implies that these behaviours may play a lesser role than we think from
this research and it is difficult to rely entirely upon this and there may be a weaker link
between this behaviour and the development of attachment
Link: This suggests that we should take more caution when drawing conclusions in this form
of research as we shouldn’t place too much emphasis on this research and strong research
methods should be used as extraneous variables could be a greater threat in this research
AO3 - Research doesn’t give us the purpose of the behaviour
Evidence: Feldman found that while interactional synchrony and reciprocity are effective in
describing behaviour, they fail to identify the purpose of it and therefore cannot fully explain it
Explanation: Therefore, while there is evidence that these behaviours are linked to the
attachment bond formed, their purpose in relation is unknown and we cannot fully explain it
and while there have been suggestions that relate these behaviours to moral development,
empathy and language, there is no evidence to necessarily reinforce this
Link: This suggests that research on this area should not be used for such socially sensitive
considerations e.g. the mother returning to work as it may be exaggerating the importance of
behaviours when we don’t fully know the purpose of these behaviours, so there may not be
as much of an impact on the development as attachment as we think
Describe and evaluate the stages of attachment identified by Schaffer and Emerson
AO1 - Asocial and indiscriminate
- Asocial takes place around 0-7 weeks and this stage involves a preference for
humans over objects, as evident through behaviours like smiling at humans but there
is no distinguishing between humans
- Indiscriminate takes place between 2-7 months and at this stage they can tell the
difference between familiar and unfamiliar people, but lack prejudice or stranger
anxiety
AO1 - Discriminate and multiple
- Discriminate stage takes places at 7-9 months and leads to a strong emotional tie
being formed with the primary caregiver and they develop separation anxiety and
stranger anxiety
- Multiple attachments begin at 9 months and this leads to more attachments being
formed with other relatives or close friends e.g.with the father, grandparents or
siblings but the one strong attachment does remain as the strongest
AO3 - Role of the father
Evidence: Yildirim et al suggests that the fathers role has increased over time and their
involvement has grown
Explanation: This suggests that the findings from Schaffer and Emerson’s study may be less
generalisable to a modern society where the mother has a less significant role and these
stages may not entirely apply, as the multiple attachments could develop earlier due to
spending more time than average with the father
