Caregiver-infant interactions Flashcards
Reciprocity
description of how 2 people interact.
Caregiver infant interaction is reciprocal in that both caregiver and baby respond to each others signals + each elicits a response from the other
Interactional synchrony
caregiver and baby reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a coordinated way
what are three signs signs of attachment
Proximity - people being physically close to the person
Separation distress - signs of anxiety when attachment figure leaves
Secure base behaviour- when regular contact is made
what do Psychologists believe about the interactions between babies and the caregiver?
Psychologists believe that these interactions have important functions for the child’s social development.
Good quality early social interactions are associated with the successful development of attachments between babies and their caregiver
what is Reciprocity?
Babies and mothers spend a lot of time in intense, highly pleasurable interactions.
An interaction is said to show reciprocity when each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them
E.g. a caregiver might respond to a baby’s smile by saying something and this in turn elicits a response from the baby
This kind of reciprocal interaction is also sometimes called ‘turn-taking’
It is an essential part of any conversation otherwise people talk over each other
What is meant by Alert Phases?
Babies have periodic ‘alert phases’ , they signal - making eye contact, they are ready for interaction.
Research shows that mothers typically pick up on and respond to their babies alternates around two-thirds of the time FELDMAN AND EIDELMAN 2007
But this varies according to the skill of the mother and external factors such as stress FINEGOOD
From around 3 months this interaction tends to become increasingly frequent and involves both the mother and baby paying close attention to each others verbal signs + facial expressions FELDMAN
what is meant by active involvement?
Traditional views of childhood have presented babies in a passive role - receiving care form an adult
But seems that babies and caregivers actually take quite an active role
Both caregiver and baby initiate interactions + appear to take turns in doing so
BRAZELTON described this interactions as a ‘dance’ because it is just like a couple’s dance when each partner responds to the other persons move
interactional synchrony
Two people are synchronised when they carry out the same action simultaneously
Interactional synchrony is defined as the ‘temporal coordination of micro-level social behaviour’ - FELDMAN
It takes place when caregiver and baby interact in a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other
when does synchrony begin?
Meltzoff and Moore observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in babies as young as 2 weeks old.
An adult displayed one of 3 facial expressions , or one of three distinctive gestures
The babies response filmed and labelled by independent observers
Babies expression and gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adults more than chance would predict - there was a significant association
Importance of attachment -
its believed that interactional synchrony = important for development of the caregiver - infant attachment
ISABELLA observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed degree of synchrony
Researchers also assessed quality of mother-baby attachment
They found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-baby attachment -e.g. the emotional intensity of the relationship
STRENGTH - FILMED OBSERVATIONS
-One strength of the research on this topic is that caregiver-infant interactions are usually filmed in a laboratory.
Means that other activities that may distract the baby can be controlled.
Using films means that observation can be analysed later.
So it is unlikely that researchers will miss seeing key behaviours
Filming interactions means that more than one observer can record data and establish their inter-rater reliability of observations
Babies don’t know why they are being observed so their behaviour does not change in response to observation - which is usually the main problem with overt observation
-Therefore, the data collected in such research should have good reliability and validity
LIMITATION - DIFFICULTY OBSERVING BABIES
-One limitation of research into caregiver- infant interaction is that it is hard to interpret a baby’s behaviour
Young babies lack of coordination and much of their bodies are almost immobile
Movements being observed are small hand movements or subtle changes in expression
It is difficult to be sure e.g. whether a baby is smiling or just passing wind
It is difficult to determine what a movement such as a hand twitch is random or triggered by something the caregiver has done
-This means we cannot be certain that the behaviour seen in caregiver infant interactions have special meaning
LIMITATION - DEVELOPMENTAL IMPORTANCE
A limitation is that simply observing a behaviour does not tell us its developmental importance
Feldman points out that idea like synchrony simply give names to patterns of observable caregiver and baby behaviours
These are robust phenomena in the sense that they can be reliably observed but still may not be particularly useful in
understanding child development as it does not tell us the purpose of these behaviours
This means that we cannot be certain from observational research alone that reciprocity and synchrony are important for a child’s development
COUNTERPOINT
There is evidence from other lines of research to suggest that early interactions are important
For example, ISABELLA found that achievement of interactional synchrony predicted the development of a good quality attachment.
This means that, on balance, caregiver - infant interaction is probably important in development
PRACTICAL VALUE VERSUS ETHICS
research into early caregiver infant interaction has practical application in parenting skills training
For example, Crotwell found that a 10 minute parent child interaction therapy improved interactional synchrony in 20 low income mothers and their preschool children
On the other hand research into caregiver - infant interaction is socially sensitive because it can be used to argue that when a mother returns to work soon after a baby this may risk damaging their baby’s development
