Caregiver-Infant Interactions

• What is an attachment?

  • an emotional tie or bond between two people, usually a primary caregiver and a child.
  • relationship is reciprocal, which means that it is a two-way relationship that endures over time
• what is reciprocity?

  • when an infant responds o the actions of another person in a form of turn-taking.
  • actions of one person (primary caregiver) elicits a response from the other e.g. a mother smiles at a baby and the baby smiles back
• what is interactional synchrony?

  • when infants mirror the actions or emotions of another person
  • in this caregiver-infant interaction the child will move their body or carry out the same act as their caregiver simultaneously and the two are said to be synchronised
• method of Meltzoff and Moore (1977)

  • controlled observation
  • an adult model displayed one of three facial expressions, or a hand gesture
  • to start, the child had a dummy placed in his/her mouth to prevent a facial response
  • following the display, the dummy was removed and the child’s expressions were filmed
• conclusion of Meltzoff and Moore (1977)

  • findings suggest that interactional synchrony is innate and reduces the strength of any claim that imitative behaviour is learned
• limitations of Caregiver-Infant Interactions (1)

  • questionable reliability: infants move their mouths and wave their arms constantly, which is an issue for researchers investigating intentional behaviour. Therefore we cant conclude infants are actually engaging in interactional synchrony or reciprocity as some of the behaviours may have occurred by chance
  • methodological issues: possibility of observer bias where the researcher (un)consciously interprets behaviour to support their findings. Recent research has failed to replicate findings suggestion that the results are unreliable
• Limitations of Caregiver-Infant Interactions (2)

  • recent research has found only securely attached infants engage in interactional synchrony. This suggests that not all children engage in interactional synchrony and the Meltzoff and Moore’s original findings may have overlooked individual differences which could be a mediating factor
• what is the first stage of attachment?

  • asocial (0-2 months): infant shows similar responses to objects and people.
  • preference towards faces and eyes
• what is the second stage of attachment?

  • indiscriminate (2-6 months)
  • infant showed preference for human company
  • can distinguish between different people, but are comforted indiscriminately and do not show stranger anxiety yet
• what is the third stage of attachment?

  • discriminate (7-12 months)
  • infant shows a preference for one caregiver, displaying stranger and separation anxiety
  • infant looks to a particular person for security and protection
  • infant shows joy upon reunion and are comforted by their primary caregiver
• what is the fourth stage of attachment?

  • multiple (1+ years)
  • attachment behaviours are now displayed towards several different people
• method of Schaffer and Emerson (1964)

  • 60 babies from working class families in Glasgow aged between 5-23 weeks.
  • researchers visited babies in their homes every month for the first 12 months and once again at 18 months.
  • researchers interviewed mothers and observed the children in relation to separation and stranger anxiety in a range of everyday activities
• results of Schaffer and Emerson (1964)

  • results provided some support for different stages of developing an attachment
  • at round 25-32 weeks, 50% of the children showed separation anxiety towards their mothers, expected of the discriminate stage
  • by 40 weeks, 80% of the children had a specific attachment and 30% had started to form multiple attachments
• conclusion of Schaffer and Emerson (1964)

  • results provide one support for Schaffer’s stages of attachment and suggests that attachment develops through a series of stages across the first year of life
• strength of Schaffer and Emerson (1964)

  • high external validity: conducted observation in infants own home which means that the children and parents were more likely to act naturally therefore the results are likely to apply to other children from a similar demographic in their own homes
• limitations of Schaffer and Emerson (1964)

  • lacks population validity: 60 working class mothers and babies from Glasgow who may form different attachments to infants from wealthier families form other countries. Can’t generalise the results of this study as behaviour might not be comparable
  • social desirability bias: interviewed mothers and some of them may not have reported accurate details about their children to make their child look better. this could cause a bias in the data that would reduce the internal validity of the findings since natural behaviour will not be recorded
• limitations of schaffer and emerson (1964)

  • psychologists suggest that caregiver-infant interactions are present from birth and therefore are the product of nature. however, such innate behaviours do not act in isolation and interact with the environment to prompt a response
  • schaffer’s stages of attachment theory takes a nomothetic approachas it proposes a gender law for child development. however such theories are inflexible and don’t apply to all children in all cultures
• What is the role of the father?

  • traditionally role of the father has been limited
  • some researchers claim that men are simply not equipped to form an attachment as they lack oestrogen which underlies caring behaviour in women
  • other researchers argue that fathers do not take on a caregiver role and in fact provide a different role as a playmate
  • finally, some researchers argue that fathers can demonstrate sensitive repsponsiveness and respond to the needs of their children and therefore can form a strong emotional tie or bond
• strength of role of the father

  • Geiger (1966) found that a fathers’ play interactions were more exciting in comparison to a mothers’. however the mothers’ play interactions were more affectionate and nurturing. this suggests the role of the father is in fact as a playmate and not as a sensitive parent
  • research found males who reported higher levels or marital intimacy also displayed a secure father-infant attachments. this suggests that males can form secure attachments with their children but the strength of the attachment depends on the father and mother relationship
• limitations of role of the father

  • biologically deterministic: research suggests fathers are less able to detect low levels of infant distress in comparison to mothers. This supports the biological explanation that the lack of oestrogen in men means that fathers are not equipped to form close attachments with their children
  • socially sensitive research and therefore has ethical implications for fathers especially single fathers
  • psychology and the economy: may make women less likely to go back to work as a result of the findings as they don’t want to impact their child's emotional development
• how does role of the father impact the economy?

  • fathers working less = not contributing in terms of income tax
  • mothers working more = contributing more to economy
  • law changes around maternity leave = employer has to pay paternity leave
  • gender pay gap = mothers go back to work earlier they can progress in their career faster
  • bowlby encourages fathers to work and encourage mothers to be the primary caregiver