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STEFANIA MORREALE
ATTACHMENT - ESSAY 1

Describe and evaluate research into caregiver - infant interactions

Attachment is when there is a close two way emotional bond
between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as
essential for their own emotional security
...
We can recognise attachment when
people display proximity, separation distress, secure-base behaviour
...

Reciprocity is when each individual responds to the other and elicits
a response from them
...

Mother-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both infant and
mother respond to each other's signal and each elicits a response
from the other
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Interactional synchrony is when mother and infant reflect both the
actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated way
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The research conducted by
Meltzoff and Moore in 1997 shows that an adult displayed 1 of 3
facial expressions or 1 or 3 distinctive gestures
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A clear
association was found between the expression or gesture the adult
had displayed and the actions of the babies
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The

STEFANIA MORREALE
ATTACHMENT - ESSAY 1

research by Schaffer and Emerson in 1964 displays that a baby
usually forms a primary attachment with their mothers by 7 months
old
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In 75% of the infants studied an attachment was formed
with the father by the age of 18 months
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Grossman carried out a longitudinal
study in 2002 observing the behaviour of both parents and its
relationship to the quality of children's attachments into their teens
...
The
research also portrayed that the quality of father's play with infants
was related to the quality of adolescent attachments
...

However, there are several strengths and weaknesses regarding the
research carried out on caregiver-infant interactions
...
This is due to the fact
that since the observations are occurring in controlled conditions,
they detain all the fine details
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One drawback of the research is that we will never be certain of
what the infant is trying to express from its gestures, making it
difficult to understand what is happening when observing infants
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The observations are just

STEFANIA MORREALE
ATTACHMENT - ESSAY 1

changes in expression and gesture which raises the doubt of whether
the infant's imitation of the adult's expression is deliberate or by
chance
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A second drawback to the research is that the findings and
observations don't inform us on the purposes behind reciprocity and
interactional synchrony
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There is however, some evidence which shows that both
reciprocity and interactional synchrony are helpful in the
development of the mother-infant attachment
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Some results suggest
that fathers don’t, whilst others conversely suggest otherwise
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Grossman’s research in 2002 portrays that
fathers have an important role as a secondary attachment figure,
which is based on play and stimulation
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The research strongly conveys that the role of
the father is not important as a secondary attachment figure
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This is
often because researches are often interested in different research
questions
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On the other hand, other researchers are more interested in the role
of fathers as primary attachments; this research demonstrates that
fathers are able to take on “maternal” roles
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