Caregiver - infant interactions Flashcards
What is an example of reciprocity?
A mother smiles and her baby smiles back
What is an example of interactional synchrony?
A baby moves their head in time with their mother
What was Tronick’s still face experiment?
The still-face experiment consists of a face-to-face interaction between an infant (aged 4 months) and their caregiver in three episodes:
- Baseline: the parent plays with the baby without toys or picking up the baby
- Still-face: the parent shows a neutral face to the baby and is unresponsive
- Reunion: the parent resumes normal interaction
Where was Tronick’s still face experiment conducted?
At home when the infants were alert and awake in a room with only the parent, infant, and experimenter present
What were the findings from Tronick’s still faced experiment?
Tronick found that infants became distressed during the still-faced episode and this was explained as caused by a violation of the reciprocal social rule. The lack of response is confusing and contradicts their expectation of turn-taking in their interaction
What did Evans and Porter study?
Reciprocity, interactional synchrony and attachment quality in 101 American infants and their mothers for the first year after birth
What was the procedure of Evans and Porter’s study?
Under lab conditions mother and baby pairs were videoed as they ‘played normally’ with toys in an observation room for 15 minutes when the baby was 6, 9 and 12 months old.
The extent of reciprocity and degree of interactional synchrony were assessed.
At 12 months the quality of mother-infant attachment was assessed using the Strange Situation.
What were the findings of Evans and Porter’s study?
Babies judged to be securely attached according to the Strange Situation tended to be those who had the most reciprocal interactions and the most interactional synchrony
What did Condon and Sander investigate?
Infant responses to adult speech and found that as early as the first day of their life, babies synchronise their movements with the sound of an adult’s voice
What are 3 evaluation points for research into caregiver-infant interaction?
- The use of controlled observations
- The issue of intentionality
- The issue of social sensitivity and economic implications
