Caregiver Infant Interactions Flashcards
What is attachment?
A strong emotional enduring bond that an infant has with one or more of his/her caregivers. An attachment connects one person to another across time and space and each seeks closeness and feels more secure when in the presence of the attachment figure
What are the four qualities that show two people have an attachment?
They are selective (formed with specific people), involve proximity seeking, provide comfort and security and there will be distress on separation
What did Bowlby suggest?
A single primary attachment relationship between mother and infant is essential for healthy psychological development. Mothers love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as vitamins and proteins for physical health
What are the two features of caregiver infant interaction?
Reciprocity and interactional synchrony
What is reciprocity?
When each person responds to the other and elicits a response from them. Both mother and child can imitate interactions and they appear to take turns in doing so
What is an example of reciprocity?
Mum smiles at the baby and then the baby smiles back
What is interactional synchrony?
Two people are said to be synchronised when they carry out the same action simultaneously. Their actions and emotions mirror the other like they are acting as one person
What is an example of interactional synchrony?
When infants move their bodies in tune with the rhythm of the mothers spoken language
Who conducted the first research into care giver interactions?
Melzoff and Moore
What did Melzoff and Moore find?
Infants ged 2-3 tended to mimic adults specific facial expressions and hand movements supporting the idea that interactional synchrony is an innate ability to aid the formation of attachments
Who conducted the second research into care giver infant interactions?
Isabella et al
What did Isabella et al find?
Observed 30 mother and infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony. They also assessed the quality of mother infant attachment. They found high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother infant interactions showing that interactional synchrony is important in forming attachments
What are two limitations of caregiver infant interactions?
Interactional synchrony is not found in all cultures and only hand movements and changes in expression which means that we cannot really know for certain that behaviours seen in mother infant interaction have a special meaning
What is the research into showing that interactional synchrony is not find in all cultures?
Le vine et al. Reported Kenyan mothers have little interactions with their infants but such infants do have a high proportion of secure attachments
