Caregiver - Infant Interactions

Question 1

What is attachment?

Answer 1

• Emotional, long lasting, two way bond between an infant and a primary caregiver.

Question 2

What is intersectional synchrony?

Answer 2

• When infants and caregivers mirror each others movements and gestures simultaneously during an interaction.
• Called a conversation dance.
• Condon and Sanders observed how babies movements seem to be closely choreographed with their mothers. Shows how the infants are attending to the caregiver in an active way and may contribute to a formation of a permanent attachment.

Question 3

What is reciprocity?

Answer 3

• Turn taking between infants and caregivers during a period of interaction that appears to be conversational.
• Infants appear to have a red to close intimate interactions from birth and signal the need through periods of alertness. Caregivers respond roughly 2/3 times.
• Seen at the start of modelling how human conversations take places.

Question 4

Evaluation of caregiver infant interactions - reliability

Answer 4

• Controlled observations tend to produce reliable data as they take place in lab settings with standardised procedures.
• Often filmed and the fine details of interaction are carefully analysed.
• Strength - research can be replicated by other psychologists at ease. Increased reliability.

Question 5

Evaluation of caregiver infant interactions - internal validity

Answer 5

• Infants are young and less likely to be affected by demand characteristics. High in validity.
• Strength - leads to greater confidence that attachments are being measured.

Question 6

Evaluation of care giver infant interactions - demand characteristics affect caregivers

Answer 6

• Caregivers may feel the need to alter their behaviour to act in a manner that is more socially desirable. May affect infants.
• Weakness - reduces internal validity of the research as we cannot be confident that the observations are measuring what they are supposed to be.

Question 7

Evaluation of caregiver infant interaction - socially sensitive research

Answer 7

• Can affect mothers across wider population.
• Children may be at a disadvantage if their mums return to work so soon. If mum is at work then this will restrict the opportunities for interactional synchrony.
• Weakness - may cause psychological harm to new Mums if they need to return to work due to financial commitments. Because they have enjoyed their career which they have worked extremely hard on.

Question 8

Evaluation of infant caregiver interactions - doesn’t apply to other cultures

Answer 8

• Le Vine et al. Kenyan mothers have little contact or physical interactions with infants. Does not impact upon attachment.
• Weakness - decreases validity of the infant caregiver interactions.

Question 9

Evaluation of infant caregiver interactions - is behaviour meaningful or random

Answer 9

• Infants can not tell us what they are doing or why they are doing it.
• Researchers making assumptions.
• Don’t know if infants behaviours are intentional or even a reaction to the mother.