Summary
Summary Attachment: Introduction to Attachment
- Course
- Institution
Introduction to Attachment from the module of Attachment has been summarised from the AQA psychology textbook for A LEVEL published by Illuminate Publishing.
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
anshikasaddi
Content preview
Introduction to Attachment Joy on reunion
1
, Caregiver-infant interactions
Meaningful social interactions with their carers have important functions for the child’s social
development, particularly for the development of caregiver-infant attachment.
Reciprocity
Babies have periodic “alert phases” and signal that they are ready for interaction. From birth, babies
and their mothers (or other carers) spend a lot of time in intense and pleasurable interaction.
Around 2/3 of the times, mothers typically pick up on and respond to infant alertness. (Feldman and
Eidelman 2007).
After 3 months, the interaction becomes more frequent and involves close attention to each other’s
verbal signals and facial expressions (Feldman 2007). Reciprocity is a key element, and an interaction
is reciprocal when each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them.
Traditional views of childhood have seen the baby in a passive role, receiving care from an adult.
However, it seems like the baby takes an active role and both the mother and child can initiate
interactions and take turns in doing so. Brazleton at al (1975) described this as a “dance”. Trevathan
(2014) found that turn-taking in the infant-adult interaction is important for the development of
social and language skill.
Interactional Synchrony
Interactional synchrony can be defined as “the temporal co-ordination of micro-level social
behavior” (Feldman 2007). It takes place when mother and infant interact in such a way that their
actions and emotions mirror the other.
Meltzoff and Moore (1977) observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants as young as
two weeks old. An adult displayed one of three facial expressions or distinctive gestures and the
child’s response was filmed and identified by independent observers. An association was found
between the expression or gesture of the adult and the actions of the child.
Isabella at al. (1989) observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of
synchrony. They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-
infant attachment (e.g. the emotional intensity of the relationship).
Brazelton et al. (1975) identified trends in mother-baby interactional synchrony. Videotapes of 12
mother-baby pairs’ play behavior was examined up to 5 months of age, which revealed 3 phrases of
play:
Attention and build up
Recovery
Turning away
Evaluation
It is hard to know what is happening when observing infants
Many studies involving observation of interactions between mothers and infants have shown the
same patterns of interaction (Gratier 2003). It is difficult to be certain what is taking place from the
infants’ perspective based on hand movements or changes in expression. For example, is the infant’s
imitation of adults signals conscious and deliberate?
2
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller anshikasaddi. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $7.80. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
75057 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now