Caregiver-infant Interactions

Question 1

Reciprocity

Answer 1

How two people interact

Question 2

Reciprocity- caregiver-infant

Answer 2

Caregiver-infant interaction is reciprocal as both the caregiver and the baby respond to each other’s signals and each elicits a response from the other’s signals and each gets a response from the other

Question 3

Interactional synchrony

Answer 3

The caregiver and the baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other in a synchronised way

Question 4

Alert phases

Answer 4

When babies signal that they are ready for interaction. Mothers usually respond to their babies alert phases around two-third of the time

Question 5

Active involvement

Answer 5

Both the caregiver and the baby can initiate interactions and take turns

Question 6

Brazelton et al described

Answer 6

Reciprocity like a dance

Question 7

Feldman

Answer 7

Interactional synchrony - ‘the temporal co-ordination of micro-level social behaviour’

Question 8

Meltzoff and Moore

Answer 8

• They observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in babies as young as 2 weeks old
• An adult showed one of 3 facial expressions or one of 3 gestures
• The baby’s response was filmed and labelled by independent observers
• Babies expression and gestures were more likely to mirror the adults

Question 9

Isabella et al

Answer 9

• They observed 30 mothers and babies and assessed their degree of synchrony
• They also assed the quality of mother-baby attachment
  Findings
• High levels of synchrony had a better quality mother-baby attachment

Question 10

Strength of caregiver-infant interaction theory

Answer 10

• They are usually filmed in a laboratory
• Therefore things that might distract the baby can be controlled
• Using films means that observations can be recorded and analysed later
  • So it is unlikely that the researchers will miss seeing key behaviours
  • Filming also means that more than one observer can record data giving inter-rather reliability of observations

Question 11

Limitation of research into caregiver-infant - interpreting

Answer 11

• It is hard to interpret a baby’s behaviour
• Young babies don’t have much co-ordination, and they mostly do small hand gestures
• Therefore it is difficult to to understand the babies behaviour and the babies perspective

Question 12

Another limitation of research into caregiver-infant research
- developmental importance

Answer 12

• Observing a behaviour does not tell us its developmental importance
• Ruth Feldman
• This means that we cannot be certain that reciprocity and synchrony are important for a child’s development based on observational research

Question 13

Rebecca Cromwell et al

Answer 13

• She found that a 10-minute parent-child interaction therapy improved interactional synchrony in 20 low income mothers and their pre-school children