ATTACHMENT

• reciprocity is a description of how 2 people interact. 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.
• alert phases are periods of time when babies signal that they are ready for an interaction, research shows that mothers typically pick up and respond to baby’s alertness 2/3 of the time- FELDMAN AND EIDELMAN 2017. yet this varies depending on external factors- FINEGOOD ET AL 2016. from around 3 months, this interaction is increasingly frequent and involves the mother and the baby paying close attention to each other’s verbal signals- FELDMAN 2007.
• active involvement shows that babies have an active role in initiating interactions, as they take turns with the caregiver, showed by BRAZELTON ET AL, 1975
• interactional synchrony is when the caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated way.
• MELTZOFF and MOORE 1977 observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in babies as young as 2 weeks old. adult displayed 1 of 3 distinctive gestures. babies response was filmed and labelled by independent observers. found that babies expressions and gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adults more than predicted.
• ISABELLA ET AL 1989 observed 30 mothers and babies together, degree of synchrony and quality of attachment. found high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother baby attachment. this proved the importance of interactional synchrony to the development of attachment
• a strength of the research into caregiver infant interactions is that they’re usually filmed in a lab. meaning the distractions are reduced, observations can be recorded and analysed later by multiple observers- increasing inter-rather reliability. also minimises demand characteristics as baby is unaware of being observed.

  therefore providing good reliability and validity.
• a limitation of caregiver infant interaction research is difficulty in observing babies accurately. babies are almost immobile and it’s impossible to understand whether their actions are intentional or a random twitch.
• another limitation of caregiver infant interactions is the lack of evidence in showing developmental importance. FELDMAN 2012 said that synchrony only gives names to the patterns but no use in understanding child development due to no purpose.

  observational research doesn’t alone show that reciprocity and synchrony are important for child’s development. opposed by ISABELLA ET AL 1989 findings.
• SCHAFFER AND EMERSON 1964 proposed stages of attachment identifiable in all babies. each stage linked to a specific age and all babies go through them in the same order.
• stage 1 of schaffers stages is the asocial stage : baby is forming bonds with certain people and these form basis of later attachments. this occurs in the first few weeks of life.
• stage 2 of schaffers stages is indiscriminate attachment : babies start to display more obvious and observable social behaviours. show clear preference for being with humans rather than innate objects. recognise company of familiar people. usually accept cuddles and comfort from any person- indiscriminate. don’t show separation anxiety when caregiver leaves their presence. no stranger anxiety in the presence of unfamiliar people. 2-7months
• stage 3 of schaffers stages is specific attachment : babies start to display classic signs of attachment towards 1 person including stranger anxiety and separation anxiety. baby has formed a specific attachmen; primary attachment figure. this is the person who offers the most interactions and responds to the babys signals with the most skill- babies mother 65% of the time. from 7 months
• stage 4 of schaffers stages of attachment is multiple attachments : close after forming primary attachment they form a secondary attachment. SCHAFFER AND EMERSON observed that 29% of children formed secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary attachment. by the age of 1 year the majority of babies had developed multiple attachments.