Caregiver-Infant Interactions

Question 1

what is attachment?

Answer 1

an strong emotional bond between two people
- a two way process which endures overtime

Question 2

what are the 3 ways we can see attachment?

Answer 2

1) seeking proximity
2) separation anxiety
3) secure base behaviour

Question 3

what is seeking proximity?

Answer 3

people try to stay physically close to those they are attached to

Question 4

what is separation anxiety?

Answer 4

people are distressed when an attachment figure leaves

Question 5

what is secure-base attachment?

Answer 5

people explore the environment but return to attachment figure for comfort

Question 6

what are the two types of caregiver-infant interactions?

Answer 6

reciprocity and interactional synchrony

Question 7

what is reciprocity?

Answer 7

• 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

Question 8

what is interactional synchrony?

Answer 8

• takes place when caregiver and baby interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other

Question 9

according to who when does interactional synchrony begin?

Answer 9

• 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

Question 10

what is the importance of interactional synchrony?

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

what is a strength of caregiver-infant interactions (filmed)?

Answer 11

• usually filmed in a laboratory
• lab = any other activity which may distract the baby can be controlled
• filmed = can be analysed later and can establish an inter rater reliability for observations
• babies don’t know that they ar being observed so they are less likely to change behaviour
  = good reliability and validity

Question 12

what is a weakness of caregiver-infant interactions(difficult)?

Answer 12

• difficult to interpret a baby’s behaviour
• young babies lack coordination and most of they body is immobile
• movements being observed are small hand movements and subtle face changes
• cannot be sure if baby is smiling of passing wind and it’s difficult to interpret what is taking place from the baby’s perspective
• we cannot know whether a baby’s hand twitch is random or triggered by actions of the caregiver
  = lacks internal validity as we can’t be sure if the behaviours have a special meaning

Question 13

what is a weakness of caregiver infant interactions?

Answer 13

• observing behaviours doesn’t tell us about its developmental importance
• Feldman –> ideas like synchrony and reciprocity gives names to patterns of observable caregiver and baby’s behaviour
• robust phenomena = reliably observed but not useful in understanding a child’s development, as it does tell us purpose of behaviour.