Caregiver - infant interactions: Reciprocity = An interaction is reciprocal when each person reacts to the other with a response. (Baby is a passive role, receiving care from the care giver. However, here it seems that the baby takes an active role within interaction. Thus, both the baby and care giver take turn within the active role, during an interaction) Interactional synchrony= A mother and child reflect both the actions of one another and do this is a co-ordinated way.
Attachment figures: Parent and infant attachment > Schaffer and Emmerson (1964)L majority of babies became attached to their mother first and then formed a secondary attachment to their father. In 75% of studies an attachment with the father was made by the age of 18 months.
The role of the father> Grossman (2002) found that the quality of fathers play linked to the quality of adolescent attachments. Fathers role in attachment is thus more to do with play and stimulation, rather than care and nurturing.
Fathers as primary carers> When fathers take on the role of the primary care giver, they develop traits similarly to those of mothers. Field (1978) found that fathers who were the primary care giver found themselves smiling more and imitating and holding infants. This behaviour appears to be an important aspect in building an attachment with children.
Schaffers stages of attachment: Schaffer and Emerson (1964) aimed to investigate the formation of early attachment, in particular the age at which they developed, their emotional intensity and to whom they were directed. Method: 60 babies, 31 males and 29 females all from skilled working class families. The babies and mothers were visited at home every month for the first year, and again at 18 months. The mothers were asked questions about the protests that babies showed in seven everyday separations. For example, the mum leaving the room. This was designed to test attachment and levels of anxiety. Findings: Between 25 and 32 weeks of age, about 50% of babies showed signs of separation anxiety, by the age of 40 weeks, 80% of the babies had a specific attachment and almost 30 % displayed multiple attachments. Stages of attachment: Stage 1: Asocial stage (first few weeks) -Babies show some preference towards familiar adults and are happier when with these familiar adults Stage 2: Indiscriminate attachment (2-7 months) -Babies display more observable social behaviour. They show a particular preference for people rather than objects. At this stage they accept cuddles and comfort. At this age they do not show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety. Stage 3: Specific attachment (from around 7 months) -Babies start to show anxiety towards strangers and become anxious when separated from specific adults. Stage 4: Multiple attachments -Attachment towards more than one adult > secondary attachment.
Animal studies of attachment (Lorenz's research) Procedure: Used a clutch of goose eggs - half the eggs were hatched with the mother goose in the natural environment. The other half hatched in an incubator where the first moving object they saw was Lorenz. Findings: The incubator group followed Lorenz everywhere, and the control group followed the mother everywhere. This idea is called imprinting = whereby bird species attach themselves and follow the first moving object that they see. Lorenz specified that imprinting takes place at a specific time. This is usually within the first few hours of hatching. If this doesn't happen, the bird will not attach itself to its mother.
Explanations of attachment: Learning theory Classical conditioning - The caregiver starts off as a neutral stimulus. Once the caregiver starts to give the baby food, the baby associates this person with food and thus they become a conditioned stimulus. Once conditioning has taken place, the caregiver produces a conditioned response by giving food, which results in pleasure. Operant conditioning - This can explain why babies cry for comfort. Crying leads to a response from the caregiver. If the caregiver provides the correct response the baby stops crying but using this technique for comfort. At the same time as the caregiver gives comfort and the baby stops crying, they receive negative reinforcement.
Attachment as a secondary drive - Sears et al (1957) as caregivers provide the food, the primary drive of hunger becomes generalised to them. Attachment is thus a secondary drive learned by an association between the caregiver and the satisfaction of a primary drive.
Bowlbys theory of attachment: Bowlby (1958, 1969): described as monotropic as he placed great emphasis on a childs attachment with its mother. Bowlby believed that the more time a child spent with its mother the better. Bowlby believed that babies are brown with certain cute traits like smiling, to draw in adults attention, to make them love the baby. He called these social releasers. Bowlby proposed a critical period around two years where attachment is key. If attachment is not formed at this time, children find it hard to build attachments during later life.
Ainsworth's strange situation: Ainsworth et al 1978, three main types of attachment: 1) Secure attachment: these children explore happily, but regularly go back to their care giver. They show moderate separation distress and moderate stranger anxiety. 2) Insecure-avoidant attachment: these children explore freely, and show little reaction when their care giver leaves, and make little contact when their care giver returns. 3) Insecure-resistant attachment: these children explore less and have huge strange and separation distress.
Pedagogy: > Show Youtube clips on the different theories of attachment >Ask students to act out the different theories of attachment, e.g. Ainsworths three main types of attachment >Draw story boards of the different stages of attachment >Create a mind map for attachment - ask students to provide evaluations for each theory >Split the class into groups, each group must teach one of the theories to the rest of the class in an imaginative way to help students remember (no powerpoint presentation - this must capture students imagination and trigger the theory within their memory)