Caregiver-Infant Interactions Flashcards
Attachment
A close, two-way, emotional bond between individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security.
Who identified how to tell if an attachment has formed?
Maccoby (1980)
What were Maccoby’s three factors?
Trying to stay in close proximity to those they are attached to, suffering from separation anxiety, and viewing their attachment figure as a secure base to return to.
What is needed for an attachment to form?
A meaningful interaction.
What has research shown about caregiver-infant interactions?
They are innate and are necessary to prompt survival. We are pre-programmed to feed, protect ourselves, and develop normal social relationships.
Johnson and Morton (1991) - Summary
Three pictures of a face were presented to infants, one schematic, one scrambled, and one control (with no features). The babies spent more time looking at the schematic face, even when just an hour old, showing it is an innate ability to attach.
Social Releasers
Behaviours babies use to attract the attention of caregivers, and encourage the formation of an attachment. This is an innate ability.
Reciprocity
When a person responds to the other and elicits a response from them in turn.
Feldman (2007) on Reciprocity
Said that mothers pick up and respond to their infant’s alertness by three months old.
Give an example of reciprocity.
A baby raises its arms to be picked up, the carer responds by picking the baby up.
What type of role are infants now considered to have in relationships?
An active role - this is a new idea.
Brazelton et al. (1975)
Said that both the child and caregiver can initiate interactions. Described interactions as a ‘dance’, with each one reacting to the moves of the other.
Tronik (1978) - Summary
Conducted the Still Face Experiment, where mothers stopped responding to their babies. The babies attempted to provoke a response before becoming very distressed, crying, and screeching.
Interactional Synchrony
When a carer and an infant interact in such a way that they are mirroring eachother’s actions and emotions at the same time.
Feldman (2007) on Interactional Synchrony
Called it ‘the temporal coordination of micro-level social behaviour’.
Give an example of interactional synchrony.
Laughing, facial expressions, smiling, making noises etc.
Meltzoff and Moore (1977) - Aim
To investigate the age at which interactional synchrony occurs between a mother and child.
Meltzoff and Moore (1977) - Procedure
They videotaped 12 infants as they watched an adult experimenter perform different facial expressions. An adult displayed one of three distinctive expressions or gestures. Children’s responses were filmed and identified by independent observers.
Meltzoff and Moore (1977) - Findings
Found signs of interactional synchrony from two weeks old. Association was found between the adult’s expression/gesture and the action of the baby.
Meltzoff and Moore (1977) - Conclusion
Interactional synchrony can start from two weeks old.
Isabella et al. (1989) - Summary
Observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony. The researchers also assessed the quality of mother-infant attachment. Found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachment.
Strengths of Caregiver-Infant Interactions
- Good testability, research uses well controlled observations.
- Useful findings produced from research, finding that these interactions are beneficial for high quality attachments.
- Reliable range of supporting evidence, showing the same patterns of interactions.
- Testable in that infants cannot show demand characteristics or social desirability bias.
Limitations of Caregiver-Infant Interactions
- Usefulness can be questionned in that it is difficult to understand what these interactions really mean, we can only infer their purpose.
- Limited testability, with mothers possibly displaying demand characteristics and social desirability bias within research.
- Research may be considered as socially sensitive, raising ethical issues.
Social Sensitivity
Understanding the states and feelings of others.
