Caregiver - instant interactions Flashcards
What is the definition of attachment
Attachment is a strong, enduring , emotional and reciprocal bond between two people
(especially an infant and caregiver)
What behaviours indicate that and attachment has been formed
who came up with it
Maccoby,1980
- Proximity seeking
- Separation anxiety
- secure base behaviour (will explore when the caregiver is present/sense of safety)
What is a caregiver
Any person who is providing free care for the child (parent, grandparent)
What is interactional synchrony
Caregiver and the child mirror what the other is doing in terms of facial expressions, movement etc
At the same time
What is reciprocity
Responding to the action of another person with a similar action.
Actions from one person will elicit a response in another. Not at the same time
e.g. A mum talking to her baby and the baby smiling
What is caregiverese
Adults who interact using a modified form of vocal language that is high pitched
Aids communication between carer and infant
What is the research into reciprocity and why did the researcher say it is important
Brazelton (1979) - still face experiment
. Where a mother stopped interacting/using reciprocity with her baby by having a straight face causing it distress etc
. Early reciprocity is essential and important for the babies later communication and development
What is the research into interactional synchrony
Meltzoff and Moore - They videoed 12-21 day old babies as they watched an adult doing 3 different facial expressions.
- The child’s response was filmed and identified by independent observers
- Shown that the beginnings of interactional synchrony in babies as young as 2 weeks old
How would you evaluate research into caregiver-infant interactions
- Usually filmed in a laboratory
- practical issues
- Does not tell us its developmental importance
How would you evaluate research into caregiver-infant interactions
( usually filmed in a laboratory)
- High internal validity and can establish cause and effect due to it being a controlled setting
- Usually videotaped allowing researchers to re-watch the footage and analyse using micro-sequencing
- Baby’s cannot show demand characteristics
This all allows high reliability and it is standardised giving it more scientific credibility
How would you evaluate research into caregiver-infant interactions (practice issues)
- Babies have unpredictable sleeping (new born babies sleep 14-17hrs a day) and eating schedules. This means the researchers must work around these factors and can make data collection inconsistent
- Babies also cannot follow instructions or provide verbal communication so their behaviour is relied on observations which can cause misinterpretation
How would you evaluate research into caregiver-infant interactions
(developmental importance)
- How do we know if it is coincidence or not
- Difficult to asses intentionality
- Babies have limited ways of expressing themselves and smiling, pointing etc may not be intentional responses to their caregiver but rather coincidental movements
- Researchers must draw inferences producing an element of bias