Caregiver-infant Interactions

Question 1

What is attachment

Answer 1

• It is a close two-way emotional bond
• It is between 2 individuals who see the other as essential for their own emotional security
• It takes a few months to develop

Question 2

Reciprocity

Answer 2

A description of how two people interact. Mother-infant interactions is reciprocal in that both infant and mother respond to each other’s signals and each elicit a response from the other

Question 3

Tronik et al (reciprocity support)

Answer 3

• He asked mothers who had been communicating with their baby to stop moving and remain static with no expression on their face
• They witnessed that the baby would try to tempt the mother into interaction by smiling themselves. They would become increasingly puzzles and distressed when their smile did not provoke the usual response

Question 4

Interactional synchrony

Answer 4

The mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other, and do this in a co-ordinated way

Question 5

Meltzoff and Moore (support for interactional synchrony)

Answer 5

• The observed the beginnings of international synchrony
• An adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three distinct gestures. The child was then filmed and identified by an independent observer
• An associated was found between the expression or gesture the adult displayed and the actions of the babies

Question 6

Issues with testing infant behaviour

Answer 6

• What is being observed is merely hand movements or changes in expressions. It is difficult to be certain what is taking place from the perspective of the infant e.g is it deliberate

Question 7

Positive with testing infant behaviour

Answer 7

• The observations are generally well-controlled procedures, with multiple angles filmed to allow fine details to be captured for later analysis
• As well as this, babies do not care that they are being observed, so will not express any demand characteristics that may reduce validity