Attachment: Caregiver Infant Interactions- KR COPY Flashcards
Define attachment
- emotional link between an infant and the caregiver
- seek closeness and feel secure in the presence of an attachment figure
- responsiveness of the caregiver to the infants signals has a deep effect on the child
What is meant by attachment?
- emotional link between an infant and the caregiver
- seek closeness and feel secure in the presence of an attachment figure
- responsiveness of the caregiver to the infants signals has a deep effect on the child
An emotional link between an infant and caregiver is also known as
Attachment.
What is meant by an interaction?
communication
How do psychologists recognise an infant has an attachment?
Proximity
separation distress
secure base behaviour
How do psychologists measure attachment?
Proximity
separation distress
secure base behaviour
What is meant by proximity?
remaining physically close to the attachment figure
What is the key term used to describe physical closeness to the attachment figure?
proximity
What is meant by separation distress?
distress/ upset when the attachment figure leaves
Define separation distress
distress/ upset when the attachment figure leaves
What is the key term used to describe distress when the attachment figure leaves?
separation distress
What is meant by secure base behaviour?
We always ‘touch base’ with our attachment figure. Infants regularly return to their attachment figure while playing.
Define secure base behaviour
We always ‘touch base’ with our attachment figure. Infants regularly return to their attachment figure while playing.
What is a secure base?
something or someone we go to, to seek comfort
In attachment, what do infants use as a secure base?
mother
When researching attachment, What is mother often used as?
a secure base
Why attachment important?
It is believed the early social interactions between infants and carer’s play an important role in the child’s social development.
What is attachment important for?
child’s social development.
What think is meant by a caregiver-infant interactions?
How caregivers (adults) and infants (children) communicate with one another.
What is meant by interactional synchrony?
Caregiver and infant respond in time to keep communication going.
What is meant by synchrony?
at the same time, in sync
Give an example of interactional synchrony
Infant and caregiver smile at the same time
What does this type of communication ensure?
infant and caregivers emotions and actions mirror each other’s.
Interactional Synchrony: What does the infant and mother do to maintain the communication?
mirror each other
How is interaction synchrony measured?
observe is infant and caregiver respond in time with each other
Who investigated interactional synchrony?
Meltzoff and Moore
Meltzoff and Moore investgated a type of caregiver infant interaction, what was it?
interactional synchrony
What type of observation did Meltzoff and Moore use to investigate interactional synchrony?
controlled observation
How do we know that Meltzoff and Moores observation was controlled?
the environment was manipulated i.e. an adult was used to measure the interaction
Who used a controlled observation to investigate interactional synchrony?
Meltzoff and Moore
What sample did Meltzoff and Morre use?
40 2-week-old babies
How many 2 week old babies were used in Meltzoff and Moores study?
40
How old were the 40 infants used in Meltzoff and Moores study?
2 weeks old
Who was paired with the 2 week old babies in Meltzoff and Moores study to interact with?
an adult
How did Meltzoff and Moore conduct the study on the 40 2-week-old babies?
An adult displayed one of three facial expressions or distinctive gestures, such as mouth opening or tongue protrusion.
The child’s response was filmed and viewed by an independent observer.
Why did Metlzoff and Moore film the observation?
so they can check their results for internal validity
Why did Meltzoff and Moore use an independent researcher to observe the observation?
so the results would be less likely to be affected by researcher bias
What did Meltzoff and Moore find in their study?
A link was found between the facial expressions/gesture of the adult and the response of the baby.
What does Meltzoff and Moore’s research tell us about interactional synchrony?
that babies mirror the behaviour in time of the caregiver to maintain communication
What is meant by Reciprocity?
a two-way, mutual process where infant and take turns to respond to each other’s behaviours/signals, to sustain interaction. This behaviour of each party elicits a response from the other
What type of caregiver infant interaction is also described as turn taking?
Reciprocity
Define Reciprocity
a two-way, mutual process where infant and take turns to respond to each other’s behaviours/signals, to sustain interaction. This behaviour of each party elicits a response from the other
Give an example of turn taking
child puts arms out to be held - caregiver picks up.
Why do infants and caregivers take turns to respond to each others behaviours and signals?
to sustain interaction
What do babies have that signals to the caregiver that they want interaction?
Alert phases
What are alert phases?
Babies have ‘alert phases’ and signal when they are ready for interaction
How often do Mother pick up and act upon alert phases?
⅔ of time
What has Brazleton said in relation to reciprocity?
both mother and baby initiate (start) the interaction and take it in turns to do so. He called this the ‘dance.’
Who compared the interaction of mother and baby as a dance?
Brazleton
D
A
Outline where in the scenario we see interactional synchrony?
Tasneem smiles, Aisha smiles back
Outline where in the scenario we see reciprocity?
Tasneem moves her head, Aisha moves hers, perfectly in time with each other
It’s almost as if they are one person
What is a potential criticism of research into caregiver infant interactions?
research lack ecological validity
Why does most research into caregiver infant interaction lack ecological validity?
because the research uses controlled environments and controlled observations i.e., films the interaction
What is the problem with using controlled environments to investigate caregiver infant interaction?
it is difficult to generalize the findings to real life cases of caregiver-infant interactions as the infant may not behave how they usually do in the real world
If the observation can’t be generalised to the target population what type of validity is affected?
external
Why is the external validity affected if research into caregiver infant interactions uses controlled observations?
because you can’t generalise the interactions seen in a controlled environment to the interactions in a natural environment
What may be a strength of using a controlled observation?
High control over extraneous variables
Why does research into caregiver infant interactions have high control over extraneous variables?
because the controlled observation means that possible variables like other adults in the room are eliminated
Why is it a strength for caregiver infant interaction research that it can control extraneous variables?
we can establish cause an effect between caregiver and infant interactions
What does establishing cause and effect increase in research?
internal Validity
Researchers have to interpret the interactions between adult and baby and make what?
inferences about their behaviour
If inferences have to be drawn what is the research prone to?
researcher bias
What is meant by researcher bias?
where the researchers behaviours/characteristics influences/ changes participants behaviour and therefore affects the results
Give an example of where researcher bias can be seen in caregiver infant interaction research
if a baby smiles this may interpret this as an interaction where it might just be passing wind.
What type of validity is affected if inferences are used and why?
internal validity- they’re no longer measuring caregiver infant interactions
