Caregiver-infant Interactions Flashcards
Reciprocity and interactional synchrony - newborns have alert phases
Babies and mothers (or other carers) spend a lot of time in pleasurable and intense contact from birth
Babies have periodic alert phases in which they will signal their readiness for interaction. Mothers respond to these signals 2/3 of the time.
Interactional synchrony = mirroring
Feldman (2007) defined interactional synchrony as the ‘coordination of micro-level behaviour’
The mother and infant will mirror each other’s actions and emotions
Interactional synchrony at 2 weeks old
Meltzof and Moore (1977)
Observed IS in infants as young as two weeks old
A carer made one of three distinctive facial expressions and gestures - and the child’s response was filmed
An association between the expression/gesture and the subsequent action of the child was found
Higher IS = higher quality attachment
IS builds foundation for the ‘closeness’ of a mother-infant relationship
Isabella et al (1989)
Observed 20 mothers with their children for IS and assessed both the IS and the quality of attachment.
Higher levels of IS were associated with a higher quality of attachment
Reciprocity - one responds to the other
Rather than exact mirroring - reciprocity is displayed from around 3 months, and involves close attention and response to each other’s verbal and non-verbal signals.
Described as a ‘dance’ - one partner moves in response to the movements of the other partner.
Baby is active
Whilst babies are traditionally viewed in a passive and reactionary role, in reciprocity and IS, the baby takes an active role and is seen to initiate interactions just as much as the mother
❌hard to know what is happening when observing infants
What is observed in studies of mother-infant interactions is merely changes in facial expressions or gestures.
We cannot assume the infants perspective- they cannot communicate with us, so we don’t know if their imitation of adult signals is conscious or deliberate.
Weakness, as it is difficult to be certain that the behaviours seen in mother-infant interactions have any meaning
✅research uses well-controlled procedures
Research is filmed from multiple angles so it can be analysed in detail later.
Babies are also unaware to the fact that they are in a scientific study, so we can assume the behaviour they are displaying is reflective of their real-world behaviour.
Strength, as it means the studies have good validity
❌observations cannot tell us the purpose of IS or reciprocity
Feldman (2012)
states that these concepts merely describe behaviours that occur simultaneously.
Whilst we can observe the nature of these interactions- this gets us no closer to learning their purpose.
However, some evidence suggests that reciprocity and IS are helpful in developing attachment, stress responses, empathy, and language/moral development
❌socially sensitive research
Suggests that certain child-rearing practices may disadvantage children.
Mothers who return to work after their child is born are seen as restricting the infants’ opportunity for IS or reciprocity.
Implies that mothers should stay at home with the child and not return to work, which had blatant social sensitivities.
