Caregiver-Infant Interactions Flashcards
1
Q
what is attachment?
A
an strong emotional bond between two people
- a two way process which endures overtime
2
Q
what are the 3 ways we can see attachment?
A
1) seeking proximity
2) separation anxiety
3) secure base behaviour
3
Q
what is seeking proximity?
A
people try to stay physically close to those they are attached to
4
Q
what is separation anxiety?
A
people are distressed when an attachment figure leaves
5
Q
what is secure-base attachment?
A
people explore the environment but return to attachment figure for comfort
6
Q
what are the two types of caregiver-infant interactions?
A
reciprocity and interactional synchrony
7
Q
what is reciprocity?
A
- caregiver and infant respond to each other’s signals and elicits a response from the other
- it can be considered turn-taking = Brazelton et al says this interaction is like a dance, babies and caregiver take an active role
- babies actively seek interaction and have periodic alert phases to signal when they are for interaction and mothers typically pick up and respond to these signals 2/3 of the time (Feldman and Eidelman), but Finegood et al says that this varies according to the skill of the mother or external factors such as stress
- Feldman says that from around 3 months this intercation becomes increasingly frequent and involves both the mother and baby paying close attention to each other’s verbal signals and facial expressions
8
Q
what is interactional synchrony?
A
- temporal co-ordination of micro level social behaviour = Feldman
- takes place when caregiver and baby interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other
9
Q
according to who when does interactional synchrony begin?
A
- Meltzoff and Moore observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in babies as young as two weeks old
- an adults displayed one of 3 facial expressions or one of 3 distinctive gestures and the babies response was filmed and labelled by independent observers
- babies’ expressions and gestures were likely to mirror those of the adults
10
Q
what is the importance of interactional synchrony?
A
- interactional synchrony is important for the development of caregiver-infant attachment
- Isabella et al observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed the degree of synchrony and the quality of mother-baby attachment
- found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment
