Caregiver- infant interactions in humans Flashcards
What is reciprocity?
Interactions between caregiver and infant involving mutual responsiveness (mother smiles–> baby smiles back)
What is interactional synchrony?
Interactions between caregiver and infant are synchronised so their actions reflect each other (mirroring the action)
If the point is:
A strength of caregiver- infant interactions in humans is that there’s research to support the concept of reciprocity.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- Tronick et al conducted the ‘still face’ experiment. He found that after 3 minutes of attempted interaction with a non responsive expressionless mother, infants rapidly grew wary. They made repeat attempts to get interaction into the usual reciprocal pattern, but when this failed the babies withdrew.
Link- Therefore, reciprocity is an important factor for the development of an attachment.
If the point is:
A strength of caregiver- infant interactions in humans is that there is research to support interactional synchrony.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- Meltzoff and Moore showed babies facial/manual gestures to investigate their abilities to imitate. Babies aged 12 to 21 days old could imitate gestures, suggesting this ability is present since birth and serves on important function.
Link- This suggests that early detection leads to early support if there is development issues.
If the point is:
A strength of caregiver- infant interactions in humans is that it’s led to practical applications.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- The ‘still face’ procedure by Tronick can be used to measure atypical development in children. For example, if kids aren’t showing distress in the still face experiment, then perhaps further investigations may be needed.
Link- This suggests that help could be provided to these children and their caregivers, aiding their development.
If the point is:
A weakness of caregiver- infant interactions in humans is that the explanation may not be complete.
What is the evidence and link?
Evidence- The whole focus is on how one caregiver interacts with an infant, and how this affects attachment. However, we know that other caregivers (fathers/grandparents) also play an important role in development, suggesting attachment is likely to occur with more than 1 caregiver.
Link- This implies that the explanation doesn’t provide a complete explanation on attachment with all caregivers, and should therefore be interpreted with caution.
What are the evaluation points for caregiver - infant interactions in humans?
+ There’s research to support the concept of reciprocity
+ There’s research to support interactional synchrony
+ Led to practical applications
– Explanation may be incomplete
