attachment Flashcards
What is reciprocity in caregiver-baby interaction?
Reciprocity occurs when each person responds to the other, eliciting a response.
For example, a caregiver responds to a baby’s smile, prompting a further response from the baby.
What are alert phases in babies?
Alert phases are periods when babies signal readiness for interaction, often through eye contact.
Research indicates that the frequency and quality of these phases can vary based on maternal skill and external stress factors.
At what age do interactions between mother and baby start to become more frequent and attentive?
Around three months.
This involves both parties paying close attention to each other’s verbal signals and facial expressions.
How have traditional views portrayed the role of babies in childhood?
Babies have been seen as passive receivers of care from adults.
Recent findings suggest that both caregivers and babies actively participate in interactions.
What analogy did T. Berry Brazelton et al. (1975) use to describe caregiver-baby interactions?
They described it as a dance, where each partner responds to the other’s moves.
Define interactional synchrony.
Interactional synchrony is the temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour.
It occurs when caregiver and baby mirror each other’s actions and emotions.
What did Andrew Meltzoff and Keith Moore (1977) observe about interactional synchrony?
They observed interactional synchrony in babies as young as two weeks old.
This was demonstrated through babies mirroring adults’ facial expressions and gestures.
What was the significant finding of Russell Isabella et al. (1989) regarding synchrony and attachment?
High levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment.
Fill in the blank: Interactional synchrony involves the _______ of actions and emotions between caregiver and baby.
mirroring
True or False: Babies are only passive participants in interactions with caregivers.
False.
Babies actively initiate interactions alongside caregivers.
What is one strength of the research on caregiver-infant interactions?
Caregiver-infant interactions are usually filmed in a laboratory
This allows for control of distractions and enables the analysis of recorded observations.
Why is filming caregiver-infant interactions beneficial?
It allows for later analysis of key behaviours, increasing reliability and validity of the data
More than one observer can record data, establishing inter-rater reliability.
How does filming affect the behaviour of babies during observations?
Babies don’t know they are being observed, so their behaviour does not change
This reduces the problem of overt observations affecting behaviour.
What is a limitation of observing babies in research?
It is hard to interpret a baby’s behaviour
Young babies lack coordination, making their movements small and subtle.
What challenges arise when interpreting a baby’s smile?
It is difficult to determine if a baby is smiling or passing wind
This ambiguity complicates understanding their emotional state.
What does Ruth Feldman (2012) argue regarding observable behaviours in infants?
Observing behaviours does not reveal their developmental importance
Terms like synchrony and reciprocity may not clarify the purpose of these behaviours.
What does observational research fail to confirm about reciprocity and synchrony?
It does not confirm that these behaviours are important for a child’s development
This leaves their significance in question.
What did Isabella et al. (1989) find regarding interactional synchrony?
Achievement of interactional synchrony predicted the development of good quality attachment
This supports the importance of early interactions in development.
True or False: Filmed observations of caregiver-infant interactions are not reliable.
False
Filmed observations enhance reliability and validity of the collected data.
Fill in the blank: The main problem for overt observations is that _______.
their behaviour may change in response to observation.
what is reciprocity?
- A description of how two people interact.
- Caregiver-infant interaction is reciprocal
- Both caregiver and baby respond to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from the other.
what is interactional synchrony?
Caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated (synchronised) way.
