caregiver infant interactions

Question 1

what is the definition of the term attachment?

Answer 1

Attachment is a strong, enduring, emotional and reciprocal bond between two people,
especially an infant and caregiver

Question 2

what is reciprocity ?

Answer 2

Reciprocity – caregiver-infant interaction is a two-way/mutual process; each party
responds to the other’s signals (turn-taking).

The behaviour of each party elicits a response from the other.

Question 3

what are the 2 types of caregiver infant interactions?

Answer 3

reciprocity

interactional synchrony

Question 4

what is interactional synchrony?

Answer 4

adults and babies respond in time to sustain communication. it is the synchronisation of movements and expressions between care giver and infant

defined as co ordination of micro level social behaviour

perfectly in time with eachother

Question 5

what are the strengths/ supporting evidence for reciprocity ?

Answer 5

tronick et al - still face

feldman and eidelman- mothers respond to babys alertness around two thirds of the time

brazelton- interaction is a dance

validity- recorded
no demand characteristics from baby

real life application

Question 6

what is tronicks study?

Answer 6

the baby and mother have a reciprocal dialog

the mums stops interacting and responding to the baby, the mum looks at the baby with a still face

Question 7

what did tronick find ? - how did the babys react to the still face

Answer 7

tronick found that babies seek out further interaction and became distressed when the mums stop interacting and had a still face

this shows that babies need reciprocity to form attachment

Question 8

what are the strengths of tronicks study?

Answer 8

real life application- reciprocity happens in everyday life

replicable- the study was done again and again

Question 9

what are the weakness of tronick?

Answer 9

lacks population validity- the research is only done between mums and babies and not the dad. only westernised cultures were used - findings may not be the same for other cultures

ethical issues- protection from harm. babies were distressed at the mums still face

lacks some ecological validity- mums are not asked to put on a still face in real life

Question 10

feldman and eildman

Answer 10

babies have periodic alert phases and signal that they are ready for interaction

mothers typically pick up on and respond to infant alertness around two thirds of the time.

Question 11

feldman- reciprocity

Answer 11

from around 3 months the interaction between caregiver and infant tends to be increasingly frequent and involves close attention to each others verbal signals and facial expressions.

This is reciprocity as the interactions are reciprocal and each action elicits a response from the other

Question 12

brazelton et al

Answer 12

traditional views of childhood have seen the baby as a passive role but brazelton suggests that they have an active role

both mother and child can initiate interactions and they take turns in doing so

brazelton described this interaction as a dance because it is like a couples dance where each partner responds to each others move.

Question 13

what are maccobys characteristics of attachment?

Answer 13

seeking proximity

distress on seperation (seperation anxiety)

joy on reunion

orientation of behaviour

Question 14

what does meltzoff and moore support?

Answer 14

interactional synchrony

Question 15

what is the procedure of meltzoff and moore?

Answer 15

studied interactional synchrony in infants as young as 2 weeks old

adults displayed gestures : mouth open, mouth closed, tongue in , tongue out and the infants response was filmed and identified.

Question 16

what are the findings of meltzoff and moore?

Answer 16

there was a strong association between the adults expressions and the infants. they tended to synchronise

Question 17

why does meltzoff and moore have high internal validity

Answer 17

behaviour was filmed meaning it can be replayed for accurate analysis

the observer was not aware of what the behaviour being immitated by the baby was

Question 18

what are the practical applications of studying interactions? meltzoff and moore

Answer 18

the principles of interactional synchrony are used in intensive interaction - a way of improving communication skills in children with a learning disability

Question 19

why is it difficult to categorise behaviour in meltzoff and moores study

Answer 19

infants were used and their mouths are in constant motion so it is difficult to establish what the expressions being shown by infants are a result of

it could be a result of immitation or just general activity

Question 20

demand characteristics care giver infant interactions research

Answer 20

infants dont know or care that they are being observed so they are displaying natural behaviour meaning that there is no demand characteristics

Question 21

individual differences- research into care giver infant interactions

isabella

Answer 21

there are individual differences and variation between infants

isabella found that securely attached mother and infant pairs showed more interactional synchrony in the first year of life suggesting that strong emotional attachments are associated with high levels of synchrony

Question 22

why is research into caregiver infant interactions socially sensetive?

Answer 22

it may have implications on working mothers who might feel guilty about not being able to spend as much time with their children

Question 23

what are the 2 key researches into care giver infant interactions?

Answer 23

tronick et al- still face

meltzoff and moore