Attachment Unit Overview

Introduction

• Focus on children's earliest interactions.
• Positive and negative interactions can have long-lasting influences.
• Start with newborn communication.
• Importance of communication for attachment and survival.

Caregiver-Infant Interactions

• Definition of attachment: Long-lasting emotional bonds.
• Reciprocity: Mutual interaction, like a conversation.
  • Example: Mother smiles, baby laughs, mother talks.
• Interactional Synchrony: Simultaneous, coordinated behavior.
  • Example: Infant waves hands with adult speech.
• Sensitive Responsiveness: Caregiver responds appropriately.
  • Important concept throughout the unit.
• Child-Directed Speech: Sing-song voice to maintain attention.
• Bodily Contact: Essential for bonding (e.g., skin-to-skin).

Evidence and Evaluations

• Meltzoff & Moore: Infants imitate adults, showing reciprocity.
• Condon & Sander: Interactional synchrony observed, infants move with adult's voice.
• High internal validity in controlled studies.
• Limitations: Inferences about infant behavior are speculative.
• Social sensitivity: Impact of research on parenting perceptions.

Stages of Attachment (Schaer)

1. Asocial Stage (Birth-6 weeks): No preference for humans.
2. Indiscriminate Attachment (6 weeks-7 months): Prefers familiar adults, no stranger/separation anxiety.
3. Specific Attachment (7-9 months): Strong attachment to primary caregiver, shows separation and stranger anxiety.
4. Multiple Attachments (9+ months): Attachments to multiple caregivers.

Schaer's Longitudinal Study

• Conducted on working-class mothers in Glasgow.
• Identified stages of attachment and timing.
• Criticisms: Lack of generalization and temporal validity.

Role of the Father

• Initially, fathers are less central as primary attachment figures.
• By 18 months, most infants attached to fathers.
• Fathers' roles: Providing play, encouraging risk-taking.
• Shift towards sensitive responsiveness when primary caregivers.
• Field's Research: Primary caregiver fathers show sensitive behaviors.
• Riso's Research: Strong father attachment predicts social skills.

Social and Economic Implications

• Social sensitivity: Impact on single-parent and same-sex couple families.
• Potential changes in maternity/paternity leave policies.
• Impact on workforce and gender pay gap.

Conclusion

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