Caregiver-infant interactions in humans: reciprocity and interactional synchrony. Stages of attachment identified by Schaffer. Multiple attachments and the role of the father.

What this dot point is asking

AQA wants you to describe reciprocity and interactional synchrony, Schaffer's stages of attachment, multiple attachments and the role of the father. The exam skill is to keep reciprocity and synchrony distinct, to list Schaffer's stages in order, and to evaluate the evidence on fathers in a balanced way.

Reciprocity and interactional synchrony

These early interactions are thought to lay the foundation for attachment. Reciprocity describes the way caregiver and infant take turns: the infant signals (a smile, a vocalisation), the caregiver responds, and this elicits a further response, like a dialogue. From around three months these interactions become increasingly frequent and finely tuned. Interactional synchrony is different in that the behaviours occur at the same time and are mirrored: Meltzoff and Moore (1977) observed infants as young as two weeks reliably mirroring an adult's facial expressions and gestures (for example tongue protrusion), at a rate above chance. Isabella et al. (1989) found that greater interactional synchrony was associated with higher-quality (more secure) attachment, suggesting these interactions matter for the developing bond. A methodological strength of this research is that interactions are usually filmed, so observations can be re-analysed by multiple raters, improving reliability; a limitation is that we cannot be sure the infant's behaviour is intentional rather than a reflex, so the meaning of synchrony is hard to establish.

Schaffer's stages

Schaffer and Emerson studied 60 babies from working-class Glasgow over 18 months, using mothers' reports of separation and stranger anxiety to track attachment. In the asocial stage, infants respond similarly to objects and people; in the indiscriminate stage they prefer people and accept comfort from anyone; at around seven months they form a specific attachment to one primary figure (shown by separation and stranger anxiety); and shortly after they form multiple attachments to other regular caregivers. The study has good external validity (a longitudinal, naturalistic design with ordinary families) but relies on mothers' self-reports, which may be biased, and was drawn from a single cultural and social group, limiting generalisability.

The role of the father

Fathers are less likely to be the primary attachment figure but often become important secondary figures. Grossmann (2002) found that the quality of fathers' play with infants predicted later attachment quality, suggesting fathers contribute a distinctive role centred on play and stimulation rather than nurture. However, Field (1978) filmed fathers who were the primary carer and found they could be just as sensitive and nurturing as mothers, spending more time smiling and holding the infant. This suggests that the father's role is shaped by responsiveness and circumstances rather than by being male, and that fathers can be primary attachment figures when they take on the main caregiving role.