Research Support for Attachment
Reciprocity
-Brazelton suggested that this basic rhythm (coordinated actions in
reciprocity -one after the other), is an important precursor to later
communications. This sensitivity to infant behaviour lays the foundation for
later attachment between caregivers and infant.
Interactional Synchrony
-Meltzoff and Moore conducted a study and found that infants as young as
2 to 3 weeks old imitated specific facial and hand expressions. An adult
model displayed the gestures and they found there was an association
between the infant behaviour and that of the adult model.
Stages of Attachment
-Schaffer and Emerson studied 60 babies from Glascow at monthly
intervals for the first 18 months using a longitudinal method. Children were
studied in their own homes and visited monthly for approximately one year.
Results revealed that attachments were most likely to form with carers who
were sensitive to the baby’s signals, rather than the person they spent the
most time with.
Animal Studies of Attachment
Lorenz
-Procedure: Lorenz took a clutch of gosling eggs and divided them into two
groups. One group was left with their mother and the others were placed in
an incubator. When the incubator eggs hatched, the first living thing they
saw was Lorenz and they soon started following him around. This is known
Reciprocity
-Brazelton suggested that this basic rhythm (coordinated actions in
reciprocity -one after the other), is an important precursor to later
communications. This sensitivity to infant behaviour lays the foundation for
later attachment between caregivers and infant.
Interactional Synchrony
-Meltzoff and Moore conducted a study and found that infants as young as
2 to 3 weeks old imitated specific facial and hand expressions. An adult
model displayed the gestures and they found there was an association
between the infant behaviour and that of the adult model.
Stages of Attachment
-Schaffer and Emerson studied 60 babies from Glascow at monthly
intervals for the first 18 months using a longitudinal method. Children were
studied in their own homes and visited monthly for approximately one year.
Results revealed that attachments were most likely to form with carers who
were sensitive to the baby’s signals, rather than the person they spent the
most time with.
Animal Studies of Attachment
Lorenz
-Procedure: Lorenz took a clutch of gosling eggs and divided them into two
groups. One group was left with their mother and the others were placed in
an incubator. When the incubator eggs hatched, the first living thing they
saw was Lorenz and they soon started following him around. This is known
