caregiver-infant interactions Flashcards
what is reciprocity?
- how 2 ppl interact—> respond to action of one with a similar action —> both caregiver and baby respond to each others signals, facial expressions etc and each gets a response from the other
—> e.g. caregiver smiles at baby and baby smiles back
reciprocity- what helps caregivers and infants to anticipate and respond to infant behaviour
- regularity of interactions
what are alert phases?
- throughout the day babies have a period of alertness in which they’re more receptive to being interactive —> e.g. making eye contact, verbal signs etc which care givers should be able to detect and pick up
what did Feldman find
- found babies respond to this alertness 2/3’s of the time BUT this varies according to skills of mother and external factors e.g. stress
- Feldman also found from around 3 moths the interactions become increasingly frequent
what is active involvement
the interaction between infant and caregiver is a 2 way process
—> Brazelton et al described the interaction as a dance where each is responding to others moves
who came up with the still face experiment
- Tronick - devised it to give insight on how parents interactions can affect emotional development of a baby
still face experiment process
- infant sat opposite care giver, caregiver interacts with baby responding to cues and noises and facial expressions then caregiver turns face away from infant for a few secs and returns face but has a ‘still face’ and doesn’t interact for 2 mins then after returns to normal responsive behaviour
still gave experiment findings
- 1st phase infants show reciprocity, in ‘still face’ phase infants show confusion and distress and frustration and overwhelmed then withdraw and no longer attempt to get caregivers attention then in repair the infants relieved and responsive to caregiver and quickly regulates emotions etc
—> suggests infants try to have a connection with care giver and engage and shape social interaction
what is interactional synchrony?
- 2 ppl carrying out same action simultaneously—> mirroring actions and emotions between 2 ppl—> co-ordinated
- important to enable secure attachment with infant and caregiver and for development of attachment
international synchrony - what did Meltzoff and Moore (1977) do?
- did a systematic study in babies as young as 2 weeks
- adult model displayed one of the facial expressions and hand gestures
—> babies response was filmed and labelled by independent observer
—> found that babies expressions and gestures were more likely to mirror those of adult more than chance would produce and found interactional synchrony could start as young as 2 weeks old
what did Isabella observe and find
- observed 30 babies and mothers and assessed their degree of synchrony and quality of mother-baby attachment
- high levels of synchrony= associated with better quality of mother baby attachment
eval point 1
- Meltzoff and Moore study= filmed in laboratory with high control in activity that could distract baby etc
- means observations can be analysed and not miss any behaviours (babies young so will be unaware on being filmed= no demand characteristics)= high validity and inter-rater reliability
—> evidence for study from Murray and Trevarthen who studied infants interactions with mother via video and when mothers didn’t interact infants showed distress etc
eval point 2
- using infants= hard to test behaviors
—> they lack co-ordination and tend to love limbs randomly and movements tends to be small and subtle (hard to tell if baby is smiling or passing wind)—> hard to distinguish general behaviours and specific actions
—> also hard to determine what’s taking place (baby perspective) as cant verbally communicate and our judgment is subjective
eval point 3
- Feldman 2012 - reciprocity and international synchrony describe behaviours and can be reliably observed BUT lack usefulness as don’t tell us purpose of the behaviours —> BUT isabella found importance of interactions for development of a good attachment
eval point 4
- Crotwell et al 2013- 10 min parent child interaction session= improved attachments in low income mothers and their pre school infants compared to control grp—> practical applications in parenting skills training and parent child interaction therapy
eval point 5
- research is socially sensitive as can suggest when mother returns to work soon after baby birth it can risk their development
eval point 6
still face experiment lacks ecological validity and may also exaggerate behaviours not in real life setting e.g. baby may already be heightened to being ignored by parents and unfamiliar setting
what is attachment
an affectional bond between 2 ppl
- develops over time
what are attachment behaviours displayed
proximity- ppl try to stay physically close to attachment figure
separation anxiety when attachment figure leaves presence
secure-base behaviour- even when independent of attachment we tend to make regular contact with them e.g. baby playing and regular returning to attachment figure
what is an infant?
a child’s life before speech (can’t verbally communicate)
—> focus on non-verbal communication (reciprocity and interactional synchrony)
- the more sensitively the responses to the signals the stronger the bond
