attachment 1 - synchrony and reciprocity (meltzoff and moore) Flashcards
what are babies ‘alert phases’?
when they are open to interaction
when do ‘alert phases’ become more frequent and detailed?
from around 3 months old
define reciprocity
when a flow of interaction takes place between mother and baby, with both responding to each other (facial expressions + body language)
who coined the term ‘reciprocity’?
feldman 2007
who refers to reciprocity as a dance? why?
brazleton et al, as it is like the baby and mother are responding to each others moves.
what is interactional synchrony
when mother and baby are mirroring each others behaviour
who observed interactional synchrony in babies as young as two weeks old?
meltzoff and moore
how did meltzoff and moore observe interactional synchrony in babies as young as two weeks old? what was found? conclusion?
an adult made one of 3 expressions/gestures, babies response filmed, video then showed to observers who identified the gesture/expression that the baby was shown. they found that they were able to identify these expressions, therefore there was evidence of interactional synchrony
what is it believed that interactional synchrony is important for?
the development of mother-infant attachment
what did isabella et al find when observing 30 mothers and infants together?
the better the attachment between the mother and child, the more synchrony was able to be identified between the two
who found out when babies tend to become attached to their mothers and fathers?
schaffer and emerson
when do babies tend to become attached to their mothers? fathers?
mothers is around 7 months, fathers is around 18 months
who carried out a longitudinal study of the quality of relationship between parents and infants throughout time into the child’s teenage years?
grossman 2002
what did grossman find out about fathers attachment compared to mothers attachment?
fathers attachment much more focused on the role of play and stimulation rather than nurturing and comfort (mothers)
what did field 1978 find out about when fathers were primary care givers? what does it show?
when fathers were primary care givers they spent more time imitating, smiling and holding infants, just like mothers. this shows that quality of attachment is based on level of responsiveness rather than the gender of the parent
describe how ‘it is hard to know what is going on when observing infants’ is a weakness when studying parent-infant attachment.
we dont know if their actions are deliberate, they may be by chance, we have no way of knowing what they are seeing and feeling from their perspective
describe how ‘controlled observations capture fine detail’ is a strength when studying parent-infant attachment.
the research tends to be well controlled in these cases, the responses and reactions are usually filmed from all angles so they can be analysed later. this shows high levels of validity.
describe how ‘observations dont tell us about the purpose of synchrony and reciprocity’ is a weakness when studying parent-infant attachment.
feldman 2012 points out that synchrony and reciprocity simply describe behaviours that happen at the same time. it shows they reliably occur but it doesnt tell us their purpose. it shows that they are important for attachment to take place, but the process is not fully explained.
