caregiver-infant interactions Flashcards
proximity
people try to stay physically close to those they are attached to
separation distress
people are distressed when an attachment figure leaves
secure base behaviour
explore the environment but return to attachment figure for comfort
what is reciprocity
- theory of how babies form attachments with mothers and fathers
- mothers pick up and respond to infants alertness
- one responds to another and elicits a response
what are alert phases
signals babies are ready for interaction
— mothers pick up and respond to alertness 2/3 of the time
what is active involvement
from 3+ months interaction is more frequent- involve close attention to eachother verbal signals and facial expressions
what is interactional synchrony
- two people are said to be synchronised when they carry out an action at the same time
- infant and mother mirror their actions in some way
- mother and infant reflect both actions and emotions of the other
Meltzoff and Moore (1977) procedure
- observed the beginning of interactional synchrony in babies as young as 2 weeks. an adult would display one of 3 facial expressions+gestures and babies response was filmed and labelled
Meltzoff and Moore findings
- The babies mirrored the expressions and gestures shown by the adults
How does Meltzoff and Moore of interactional synchrony
The interactions are mirrored, babies reflected actions of mothers so behaviour is synchronised
Evaluation of caregiver-infant interactions
- interater reliability and validity: interactions are filmed and babies don’t know their being observed. - more than one observer can carry out analysis.
behaviour could be random - research to support the idea of interactional synchrony being important for development: high levels of synchrony are associated with better quality of attachment.
behaviour can be observed but don’t help us understand the purpose of them
