Caregiver-infant interactions in humans

Question 1

Reciprocity

Answer 1

this relates to the two-way nature of attachment interactions where both infant and mother respond to the signals each one is sending.

Question 2

Examples

Answer 2

• very young babies have alert phases where they signal to the mother that they are ready for interaction, mothers typically identify and respond to these alert phases about two thirds of the time (Feldman & Eidelman (2007)
• care-giver interaction is more frequent from around three months & is characterised by reciprocity where the infant & caregiver take turns to respond to the signals the other is sending.

Question 3

Interactional synchrony

Answer 3

relates to the mother and infant mirroring each other’s behaviour simultaneously.

Question 4

Examples

Answer 4

Meltzof & Moore (1977) filmed adults observing with infants as young as 2 weeks old and found an association between the gestures the adults and babies displayed.
Isabelle et al (1989) observed 30 mothers and infants together & found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachment.

Question 5

Evaluation strength: greater validity

Answer 5

research in this area involves controlled observations which capture more detail and less extraneous variables.

Question 6

Evaluation weakness: socially sensitive

Answer 6

as studies suggest interactional synchrony affects infant-mother relationships (damaging implications for working mothers)