Care-giver - Infant Interactions Flashcards
what is an attachment?
close, two-way emotional bond, seeing the other as essential for their own emotional security, takes a few months to develop
what are the three attachment behaviours?
proximity, separation anxiety, secure base behaviour
what is proximity?
staying physically close to those they are attached to
what is separation anxiety?
people are distressed when an attachment figure leaves
what is secure base anxiety?
people will explore the environment, but return to an attachment figure for comfort
what is reciprocity?
how two people interact, the primary caregiver and infant elicit a response from each-other
what are the benefits of reciprocity?
helps facilitate an attachment
Feldman and Eidelman 2007
- found babies have alert phases and signal that they’re ready for interactions
- mothers pick up and respond to alertness 2/3 of the time
how does reciprocity develop?
from 3 months + interactions become more frequent: this involves close attention to eachother, verbal signals, and facial expressions
what is interactional synchrony?
when the mother an child reflect the emotions and actions of the other in a co-ordinated way
Meltzoff and Moore
- observed beginning of interactional synchrony as young as 2 weeks
- adult made facial expressions and distinctive gestures, the child’s response was filmed
what are the strengths of caregiver-infant interactions?
- high levels of validity e.g meltzoff and Moore single blind study to remove observer bias/interpretation
- further supporting research e.g. Abravenel and DeYoung found little imitation of moving objects
what are the limitations of caregiver-infant interactions?
- contradicting evidence e.g. koepke et al failed to replicate M&M studies as behaviour wasnt copied
- individual differences e.g. Isabella et al found more synchrony in pairs more strongly attached
