caregiver-infant interactions

• Reciprocity = Infant and caregiver match each other's responses
• Interactional synchrony = Infant and caregiver reflect each other's actions and emotions in a coordinated manner
• Stages of Attachment (Schaffer + Emerson 1964)

  1. Asocial stage

  • 0-2 moths
  • Infants respond to people and objects in the same way
  • still forming bonds
• 2. Indiscriminate attachment

  • 4-7 months
  • Babies are happy to be cuddled by a stranger - they have not developed stranger anxiety at this stage
  • Babies in this stage enjoy the company of a range of people
• 3. Discriminate attachment

  • 7-10 months
  • The baby now has a strong attachment to their primary caregiver
  • All the signs of attachment are present: separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, proximity-seeking behaviour + clinginess
• 4. multiple attachments

  • 10-11 months onwards
  • Babies now have a range of secondary attachment figures with whom they have formed a bond grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles, nursery worker etc.
• strengths of the stages

  strength

  • The stages follow a logical pattern and reflect most children's experience of attachment hence the theory has external validity
  • The stages of attachment have good application: they could be used to identify developmental delay or infant-caregiver bonding issues by healthcare professionals
• limitations

  • Not all children will fit neatly into the stages: some children may bond quickly with a range of people while others may be slower so the theory lacks some reliability
  • It is notoriously difficult to measure and track infant behaviour: many aspects of attachment remain a mystery i.e. a baby cannot explain how they are feeling or give reasons for their actions