caregiver-infant interactions Flashcards
what is attachment
a strong, reciprocal and emotional bond between 2 people(especially an infant and caregiver) , characterised by mutual affection and a desire to maintain proximity
what is infancy
period of a child’s life before they’re able to talk (normally the first year)
caregiver
anyone who’s providing care for the child
word for when babies are born at a relatively early stage of development
altricial
word for when animals are born at an advances stage of development
precocial
what does reciprocity mean
-the interaction flowing both ways in which each party responds to the other’s signals to sustain interaction (turn-taking).
what did Feldman observe and when
-in 2007
-from 3 months, reciprocity increases in frequency due to increasing attention and response sensitivities
what is the phase when children show more reciprocity called
-the alert phase (ready for interaction)
what did Brazelton et al describe and when
-in 1975
-mother child interactions form foundation of later attachment known as alert phase
what is interactional synchrony
when 2 people interact by mirroring facial and body movements including emotions
what does interactional synchrony include
-imitating adults behaviour
-imitations are synchronised to sustain a communication between 2 individuals
what did meltzoff and Moore find and when
-infants as young as 2-3 weeks old immitated specific facial and hand gestures
-therefore more nature than nurture on debate
what was the aim of the meltzoff and Moore study
-to examine interactional synchrony in infants
method of the meltzoff and Moore study
-controlled observation
-adult model displayed one of 3 facial expressions and hand gesture
-at the start, the child had dummy to prevent facial expression
-following display, dummy removed and child expressions were filmed
what other age category did meltzoff and Moore find their study was applicable to
3 days old
positives of meltzoff and Moore study
-controlled observations + captured fine details, a lot of cameras so high validity
- infants don’t know they’re being observed so cant adjust behaviour
mother infant attachments and stressful situations, developing empathy, language and morality
what are reciprocal interaction and synchrony are helpful for
-mother infant attachments
-stressful situations
-developing empathy, language and morality
evaluation of caregiver infant interaction
usefulness of controlled experimentation in researching social relationships eg artificiality- cause and effect
