Caregiver-infant Interactions

Question 1

social interactions between _______ and _______ is an important part of a childs ______

Answer 1

• caregiver
• children
• development

Question 2

define reciprocity

Answer 2

eliciting someone elses response

Question 3

define an alert phase

Answer 3

a period of time in which babies signal they are ready for social interactions

Question 4

what do Feldman and Eidelman suggest about the period of time for alert phases?

Answer 4

that it can starts soon as two months old, and that mothers typically begin to respond to these signals at around three months

Question 5

describe active involvement

Answer 5

the idea that interactions between children and caregivers are started by both sides, as they are both involved

Question 6

what is the term to describe:
“the temporal co-ordination of micro level social interactions”

Answer 6

interactional synchrony

Question 7

when does interactional synchrony begin?

Answer 7

with kids as soon as two weeks old

Question 8

what does Isabella et al suggest about interactional synchrony

Answer 8

that children with a higher level of synchrony are associated with higher quality attachments

Question 9

name a strength of this theory

Answer 9

• one strength of this theory is that supportive studies were conducted in labs
• this means that there is a high control over extraneous variables
• which increases the validity of the work

Question 10

name another strength

Answer 10

• another strength is that there were filmed observations
• this means that there is a high inter rater reliability
• this increases the reliability of results as more than one person can agree on the interpretation of the childs behaviour

Question 11

name a limitation

Answer 11

• one limitation of this theory is that interpreting child’s behaviour is subjective
• babies movements are very small and so may be misinterpreted
• this means that the validity of results is low

Question 12

name another limitation

Answer 12

• another limitation is that this theory only makes a correlation
• for example Isabella et al suggesting that higher levels of synchrony mean stronger attachment with the child
• this merely suggests a correlation and does not suggest a causation behind children’s development
• this limits the explanatory power