Caregiver-infant interactions in humans

Question 1

What is the definition of an attachment?

Answer 1

An emotional bond between two people. A two way process that endures over time and develops in stages within a fairly set timescale

Question 2

What kind of behaviour does attachment lead to?

Answer 2

Clingy, proximity seeking behaviour

Question 3

Why do humans need to form attachments?

Answer 3

Because they are altricial (born at an early stage in development) and so need to form attachment bonds with people who will nurture and protect them

Question 4

How do you know if a baby has formed an attachment?

Answer 4

Separation anxiety (distress when separated from attachment figure)
Stranger distress (fear of unknown people)

Question 5

Who are infants most likely to form an attachment with?

Answer 5

65% mother only
3% father only
30% mother and another

Question 6

How do attachments form?

Answer 6

Caregiverese
Interactional synchrony
Bodily contact
Reciprocity
Mimicry
Sensitive responsiveness

Question 7

What is caregiverese?

Answer 7

A type of high-pitches, slow verbal interaction

Question 8

What is bodily contact?

Answer 8

Infants interact physically with caregiver

Question 9

What is interactional synchrony?

Answer 9

Adults and babies respond to each other in a turn-taking rhythmic style to sustain communication

Question 10

What is reciprocity?

Answer 10

The interaction has to flow both ways so both parties respond

Question 11

What is mimicry?

Answer 11

Infants have an innate ability to copy adults’ facial expressions (biological drive to form attachments)

Question 12

What is sensitive responsiveness?

Answer 12

Adults attend particularly sensitively to what the infant needs. They meet the needs quickly and sufficiently

Question 13

What are two pieces of research to support the six ways in which attachments form?

Answer 13

Tronick 1974: ‘still face paradigm’, found that if the baby was ignored it would over compensate for attention
Papousek et al 1991: found that caregiverse was cross cultural. The classic rising tone was found in Germany, China and the US, which suggests that caregivers is an innate biological device for attachment

Question 14

Criticism of Papousek et al 1991?

Answer 14

Is his research really cross cultural? No.

Question 15

What are strengths of research into caregiver-infant interactions?

Answer 15

Practical applications, e.g. mothers and babies are no longer separated at birth in the hospital
Adopted parents take their child immediately

Question 16

Who did research to criticise caregiver-human interactions?

Answer 16

Le Vine et al 1994: reported that Kenyan mothers have little physical interaction and contact with their infants, but the infants still have a secure attachment (so is the interaction really necessary?)