Attachment Flashcards
Why is caregiver-infant interaction important?
From an early age babies have meaningful social interactions with their carers. It is believed that these interactions have important functions for the child’s social development, in particular for the development of caregiver-infant attachment.
What happens to infant-caregiver interactions from birth to around three months?
From birth babies and their mothers (or other carers) spend a lot of time in intense and pleasurable interaction. Babies have periodic ‘alert phases’ and signal that they are ready for interaction. Mothers typically pick up on and respond to infant alertness around two-thirds of the time (Feldman and Eidelman 2007).
From around three months this interaction tends to be increasingly frequent and involves close attention to each other’s verbal signals and facial expressions (Feldman 2007). A key element of this interaction is reciprocity.
What is reciprocity?
An interaction is reciprocal when each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them.
What role does the infant have in reciprocity?
Traditional views of childhood have seen the baby in a passive role, receiving care from an adult. However, it seems that the baby takes an active role. Both mother and child can initiate interactions and they appear to take turns in doing so.
Brazleton et al 1975 described this interaction as a ‘dance’ because it is just like a couple’s dance where each partner responds to each other’s moves.
What is interactional synchrony?
Mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this is in a co-ordinated (synchronised) way.
Interactional synchrony can be defined as ‘the temporal co-ordination or micro-level social behaviour’ (Feldman 2007). It takes place when mother and infant interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other.
What did Meltzoff and Moore 1977 observe surrounding interactional synchrony?
Meltzoff and Moore 1977 observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants as young as two weeks old. An adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three distinctive gestures. The child’s response was filmed and identified by independent observers.
An association was found between the expression or gesture the adult had displayed and the actions of the babies.
What did Isabella et al 1989 observe surrounding interactional synchrony?
It is believed that interactional synchrony is important for the development of mother-infant attachment. Isabella et al 1989 observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony. The researchers also assessed the quality of mother-infant attachment. They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachment (e.g. the emotional intensity of the relationship).
What is an attachment?
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