Attachment: Caregiver-infant Interactions in Humans Flashcards
Define Interactional Synchrony
Interactions between caregiver and infant are ‘synchronised’ so that their responses reflect each other.
They respond in time to sustain communication.
This can mean mirroring the action (e.g. infant moves their head in time with their mother), imitation or responding in a coordinated way (e.g. toddler talks and caregiver listens).
Define reciprocity
Caregiver-infant interaction is a two way / mutual process. I.e., mutual responsiveness.
To sustain interaction, they each communicate signals which elicit responses in the other.
E.g., MOTHER SMILES and her BABY SMILES BACK.
What 4 key attachment behaviours did Maccoby find
1- seeking proximity
2- distress on separation
3- pleasure when reunited
4- general orientation of behaviour towards the paf
Describe the 4 attachment behaviours found by Maccoby
Seeking Proximity: The infant will try to stay close to the attachment figure (caregiver).
Distress on Separation: Both caregiver and infant will experience and demonstrate signs of distress when separated.
Pleasure when Reunited: There will be obvious signs of pleasure from the child and caregiver upon being reunited.
General Orientation of Behaviour Towards PAF: The infant and caregiver will direct attention to each other and try to engage each other in activities and interaction. For example they engage in mutual gazing.
Evaluation of caregiver infant interactions:
Strength: Evidence for Reciprocity
There is research to support the concept of reciprocity from Tronick et al. (1975) and the ‘still face’ experiment.
Finding showed that after 3 mins of attempted interactions with a non-responsive, expressionless mother, infants rapidly grow wary and distressed
Therefore, … reciprocity is a key caregiver infant interaction that seem to support healthy development and emotional stability
Evaluation of caregiver infant interactions:
Strength: Evidence for Interactional Synchrony
There is also research to support interactional Synchrony. Meltzoff + Moore (1997) found that…. babies as young as 12-21 days old could imitate facial gestures and manual gestures in order to investigate their abilities to imitate suggesting these abilities are innate
This suggests that infants and caregivers could be biologically programmed to engage with these behaviours to aid their development
Evaluation of caregiver infant interactions:
Strength: Practical Applications
There are practical applications from the ‘still face’ experiment.
This procedure can be used to measure atypical development in children. I.e., if children are not showing distress in the still face experiment, perhaps further investigations may be needed.
This means that help could be provided to these children and their caregivers, aiding their development.
Therefore, this would be beneficial for society because it could help safeguard the healthy development of children.
Evaluation of caregiver infant interactions:
Limitation: Socially Sensitive
However, this could be argued as socially sensitive.
Due to the nature of modern society, many parents have to work FT and as such may struggle to maintain close proximity and reciprocate the infants responses. Simply suggesting that parents must provide these interactions could inadvertently create unnecessary pressure
Therefore research must be careful not to offend/stigmatise whole groups in society
Evaluation of caregiver infant interactions: Limitation: Incomplete View
Furthermore, this explanation may be incomplete. The whole focus is on how one caregiver interacts with an infant, and how this affects attachment.
However, we know that other caregivers (e.g. fathers / grandparents, etc.) play an important role in development. Thus, attachment is likely to occur with more than one caregiver.
This means that this explanation does not provide a complete explanation on attachment with all caregivers, and should therefore be interpreted with caution.
