Caregiver-infant interaction
Attachment is a close, two-way emotional bond. Signs: the child seeks to be near the carer (proximity seeking), is upset when they leave (separation distress) and uses them as a secure base to explore from.
- Reciprocity: carer and baby respond to each other in turns, like a conversation without words. From about 3 months, babies take turns more often.
- Interactional synchrony: carer and baby mirror each other's actions and emotions at the same time. Babies as young as 2โ3 weeks imitate some facial expressions.
Evaluation: baby behaviour is hard to interpret (is it intentional?), but filmed observations are reliable because several observers can check them.
Stages of attachment and the role of the father
A classic study of 60 babies from working-class homes followed them monthly for a year and found four stages:
- Asocial (0โ2 months): similar response to people and objects.
- Indiscriminate (2โ7 months): prefers people; accepts comfort from anyone; no stranger anxiety.
- Specific (about 7 months): stranger anxiety and separation anxiety with one main attachment figure, often (not always) the mother: the one who responds most sensitively, not the one who spends most time.
- Multiple (by about 10โ18 months): bonds with several people.
Role of the father: fathers can be primary attachment figures when they are the main sensitive carer. Some research suggests fathers often take a more play-based, challenging role. Children without a father figure do not appear to develop differently on average.
Animal studies and explanations of attachment
Animal studies
- Lorenz (geese): goslings imprinted on the first moving object they saw in a critical window of a few hours (even Lorenz himself) and followed it.
- Harlow (monkeys): baby rhesus monkeys had a wire "mother" with milk and a cloth "mother" with none. They spent most time on the cloth mother and ran to it when scared. Monkeys raised without real mothers later had social problems.
Limitation: animals are not humans, and Harlow's work caused severe harm, raising ethical issues.
Learning theory (cupboard love)
Classical conditioning: food gives pleasure; the carer is paired with food and becomes a source of pleasure too. Operant conditioning: crying is reinforced when the carer comes; the carer is reinforced when crying stops. Problem: Harlow and Schaffer showed food is not the key.
Bowlby's monotropic theory
- Attachment is innate and helps survival.
- Monotropy: one main bond is more important than others.
- Social releasers (smiling, crying, cooing) trigger care.
- Critical period of about 2.5 years (later called a sensitive period).
- The main bond forms an internal working model: a template for later relationships.
Types of attachment and cultural variation
The Strange Situation is a controlled observation of 12โ18-month-olds in eight short episodes: carer and child, a stranger enters, carer leaves, carer returns, and so on. Observers record exploration, stranger anxiety, separation anxiety and reunion behaviour.
| Type | Behaviour | Approx. share |
|---|---|---|
| Secure (B) | Explores, moderate distress on separation, quickly comforted on return | 60โ75% |
| Insecure-avoidant (A) | Explores freely, little distress, avoids carer on return | 20โ25% |
| Insecure-resistant (C) | Explores little, very distressed, resists comfort on return | 3โ15% |
A fourth type, disorganised, was added later.
Cultural variation: a large review of studies in many countries found secure was most common everywhere, but avoidant was higher in some Western European samples and resistant was higher in some East Asian and Israeli kibbutz samples. Variation within countries was much bigger than between them. Critics say the test may be culture-bound (an imposed etic).
Deprivation, institutional care and later effects
- Maternal deprivation hypothesis (Bowlby): long separation from the main carer during the critical period can cause lasting harm, e.g. lower IQ and affectionless psychopathy (no guilt or empathy). A study of young thieves found many with this trait had been separated early. Limitation: it confused deprivation (bond lost) with privation (bond never formed).
- Romanian orphan studies: children raised in very poor orphanages were adopted at different ages. Those adopted before about 6 months mostly caught up; those adopted later more often showed disinhibited attachment (over-friendly with strangers) and lower IQ.
- Internal working model and adult relationships: securely attached children tend to have better friendships and adult relationships; insecure attachment is linked to more difficulty, though the link is not fixed.
Try it: observe a bond
With permission, watch a parent and baby for five minutes (a park or family visit). Tally: turn-taking (reciprocity), mirroring (synchrony), baby looking back to the parent while exploring (secure base). Compare your tallies with a friend's: do you agree?
Key formulas and definitions
- Key term: Attachment = a lasting emotional bond between infant and caregiver
- Key term: Reciprocity = turn-taking responses; Interactional synchrony = mirroring at the same time
- Key term: Imprinting = young animals following the first moving object in a critical period
- Key term: Monotropy = one main attachment is most important; Internal working model = mental template for relationships
- Key term: Secure / insecure-avoidant / insecure-resistant = Strange Situation attachment types
- Key term: Deprivation = losing a bond; Privation = never forming one; Disinhibited attachment = over-friendliness to strangers
Worked examples
1. An 18-month-old explores the playroom, cries a little when mum leaves, and hugs her and calms quickly when she returns. Which type?
Secure attachment: uses the carer as a safe base, moderate separation distress, easily comforted on reunion.
2. Why does Harlow's study challenge learning theory?
Learning theory predicts monkeys would attach to the source of food (wire mother). They preferred the cloth mother, showing comfort, not food, drives attachment.
3. In a study of 60 babies, 39% had the mother as main attachment and 3% the father as sole first attachment. How many babies is 3%?
3% of 60 = 0.03 ร 60 = 1.8, about 2 babies.
4. Explain how the internal working model might affect a teenager's friendships.
If early care was warm and reliable, the child expects others to be trustworthy and forms close, stable friendships. If care was unreliable, the child may expect rejection and be clingy or distant.
Common mistakes
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