caregiver - infant interactions

Question 1

what are alert phases in babies?

Answer 1

where babies show that they want to interact by making movements and sounds
(goldman said mothers respond 2/3 of the time)

Question 2

what is internal synchrony?

Answer 2

where mother and baby mirror each other to build a connection/ attachment
(meotzof saw this in babies from 2 weeks)

Question 3

what did isabella observe?

Answer 3

she observed 20 mothers and babies and found that high synchrony generally causes better attachment

Question 4

what did Brazelton find with reciprocal interaction?

Answer 4

from 3 months reciprocal interaction between mother and child becomes more frequent.

He also said that babies have as equally active role as the mother in interaction (previously they were thought to be more passive)

Question 5

positive evaluation:

a well-controlled procedure used

Answer 5

• interactions are usually filmed from multiple angles so fine details can be seen
• also, babies don’t know they’re being observed so their behavior isn’t influenced
• the study has good validity

Question 6

negative evaluation:

observations don’t tell us the purpose of synchrony and reciprocity

Answer 6

• feldman (2012) says synchrony and reciprocity simply describes behaviors that occur at the same time
• they can be reliably observed but aren’t useful as it doesn’t tell us their purpose
  although there’s evidence that R and S are helpful in the development of mother-infant attachment

Question 7

negative evaluation:

research into mother-infant interactions is socially sensitive

Answer 7

• suggests children with particular child-rearing practices are at a disadvantage
• mothers who return to work soon restrict oppurtunity for internal synchrony
• suggests mothers shouldn’t return to work soon - this has obvious socially sensitive implications