Caregiver and infant interactions Flashcards
what is reciprocity
description of how two people interact caregiver-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both caregiver and respond to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from the other
what is an alert phase
babies have periodic alert phase in which they signal (e.g making eye contact,) that they are ready for a spell of interaction
what is does research show about alert phase
mothers typically pick up on and respond to their babys alertness around two thirds of the time, although this varies according to the skill of mother and external factors such as stress
from around three months what happens to this interaction
tend to become more frequent and involves both mother and baby paying close attention to each others verbal signals and facial expression
what is active involvement
traditional views of childhood have portrayed babies in a passive role receiving care from an adult
what interaction is described as a dance
when both caregivers and babies initiate interactions and they appear to take turns in doing so.
what is interactional synchrony
caregiver and baby reflects both the and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated way
what did Keith and Andrew observed
observed the beginning of interactional synchrony in babies as young as two weeks old.
what happened during the observation
an adult displayed
one of three facial expressions or one of three distinctive gestures. the baby response was filmed and labelled bby independant observers
Babies expression and gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adults more than a chance would predict
why is interactional synchrony important
for development of caregiver-infant attachment
what did Russell Isabella et al observe and find
30 mothers and babies together are assessed the degree of synchrony. The researchers also assessed the quality of mother-baby attachment
found high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment
what is attachment
as a close two way emotional bond between two way emotional bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security
what behaviour display attachment
proximity
separation distress
secure base behaviour
what is proximity
people try to stay physical close to their attachment figure
what is separation distress
people show signs of anxiety when an attachment figure leaves their presence
what is secure base behaviour
even when we are independent of our attachment figures we tend to make regular contact with them. Babies display secure-base behaviour attachment figure while playing
what is a STRENGTH
caregiver infant interactions are usually filmed in a labratory
This means that other activity that might distract a baby can be controlled. Using films mean that observations can be recorded and analysed later so unlikely researcher will miss any key behaviour. having filmed interaction means that more than one observer can record data and establish inter-rater reliability of observations. Babies don’t know their being observed so no demand characteristics
Therefore the data collected in such research should have good reliability and validity
What is a Limitation
researcher into caregiver-infant interaction is that it is hard to interpret a bays behaviour
Young babies lack to co-ordination and much of their bodies are almost immobile. Movements being observed are just hand movements or subtle changes in expression. It is difficult to be sure. For example we cannot know whether a baby is smiling. It is also difficult to determine what is taking place from the Babys perspective. For example we cannot know whether a movement such as hand twitch is random or triggered by something that caregiver has
