Caregiver-infant interactions Flashcards
What is reciprocity? (inc. alert phrases, active involvement, turn taking)
An interaction is said to show reciprocity when each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them.
Alert phrases are when a baby gives a signal that they are ready for an interaction e.g. eye contact. From around 3 months this interaction tends to become increasingly frequent
Active involvement is children and caregivers having an active role in childhood upbringing. Both can initiate interactions.
What is interactional synchrony? (inc. beginning of synchrony, importance for attachment, mirroring)
The temporal coordination of micro-level social behaviour. It takes place when the caregiver and baby interact in such a way that their actions and emotions mirror the other
Beginning of synchrony is the observed start of interactional synchrony in babies as young as two weeks old.
An adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three distinctive gestures. The baby’s response was filmed and labelled by independent observers. The baby’s expression and gestures were more likely to mirror those of the adults more than the chance would predict
Importance of attachment in that interactional synchrony is important for the development of caregiver-infant attachment
What are the 5 attachment behaviours, and their definitions?
Proximity – people try to stay physically close to those they are attached to
Separation anxiety – people are distressed when an attachment figure leaves their presence
Secure-base behaviour – even when we are independent, we tend to make regular contact with our attachment figures. We regularly return to them while playing so they are a base from which to explore.
Stranger anxiety - the infant is distressed when in close proximity to strangers / people they don’t know.
Reunion behaviour - the infant shows pleasure when reunited with the attachment figure.
What is an attachment
An attachment is a close two-way emotional bond between two individuals where each individual sees the other as essential for their own emotional security. It endures over time and serves to protect the infant.
What is a caregiver-infant interaction?
the communication between a caregiver and infant. It is believed that these interactions have important functions for the child’s social development and form the basis of the attachment between the two. Particularly, the more responsive or sensitive they are to each other’s signals, the deeper the bond.
What is a caregiver?
any person who provides care for a child e.g. a parent, grandparent, sibling, other family member, childminder etc.
What is an infant?
usually taken to refer to a child’s first year of life, although some psychologists also include the second year.
Meltzoff and Moore (1977) procedure and findings
Meltzoff and Moore (1977) observed the beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants as young as two weeks old. An adult displayed one of three facial expressions or one of three distinctive gestures. The infant’s response was filmed and identified by independent observers using a number of behavioural categories. The observers did not know what the infants had seen (the infants were filmed from an angle which meant that the adult couldn’t be seen). An association was found between the expression or gesture the adult had displayed and the actions of the babies. In 1983 they demonstrated this in three-day old babies which rules out the possibility this behaviour is learned and suggests it is therefore innate.
Meltzoff and Moore proposed that the infants’ imitations were intentional i.e. they were deliberately copying what the caregiver was doing. Meltzoff suggested that through interactional synchrony, infants begin to acquire an understanding of what other people are thinking and feeling which is fundamental for social relationships.
Isabella et al. (1989) findings
observed 30 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony. They found high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality of mother-infant attachment.
Supporting evidence - Meltzoff and Moore and Isabella et al. and what it shows
Findings show that interactional synchrony may have a special meaning as it is important for the development of attachment and to help infants to begin to acquire an understanding of what other people are thinking and feeling, which is fundamental for social relationships.
Real world application - and what it shows
Research into mother-infant interaction is socially sensitive because it suggests that children may be disadvantaged by particular child-rearing practices. In particular, mothers who return to work shortly after a child is born restricts the opportunities for achieving interactional synchrony which has been found to be important in developing caregiver-infant attachment.
This suggests that mothers should not return to work so soon and as such has socially sensitive implications. It could create guilt in mothers who need to return to work soon after the birth of their child. However, the research is important in that it suggests that the interactions have a special meaning and may have implications later on in life. These two opposing viewpoints need to be carefully considered when conducting and publishing such research.
Weakness of Meltzoff and more and Isabella et al. - and what it shows
Feldman points out that interactional synchrony and reciprocity simply describe behaviours that occur at the same time. They are robust phenomena that can be reliably observed, but this may not be particularly useful as it doesn’t tell us their purpose (why they are done).
Therefore, we can’t understand why infants reciprocate and imitate their caregivers, so we can’t be certain that they have a special meaning.
Strength of Meltzoff and Moore and Isabella et al.
Observations of mother-infant interactions are generally well-controlled procedures, with both the mother and infant being filmed, often from multiple angles. The angles often include those that mean that the researcher analysing the video footage cannot see what the other person in the video is doing. Additionally, babies don’t know or care that they are being observed.
As babies don’t know or care that they are being observed, this reduces the likelihood of demand characteristics and social desirability bias which are normally a problem for observational research. Recording the interactions ensures that fine details can be recorded and later analysed. As angles can be used where the caregiver can’t be seen, this reduces the likelihood of researcher bias. Together, this ensures that the research has good internal validity and so we can make valid conclusions about the importance of caregiver-infant interactions. It also means that the research can be replicated to check reliability of the results.
