Caregiver interactions

Question 1

new-born babies have alert phases

Answer 1

babies and their mothers spend alot of time in intense and pleasurable interaction
babies have periodic ‘alert phases’ which mothers respond to around 2/3rds of the time

Question 2

describe interactional synchrony
trigger word:
mirroring

Answer 2

‘coordination of micro-level behaviour (Feldman2007)

Interactional synchrony is where an infant mirrors the actions of another person, for example, their facial expressions and body movements - moving their body in tune with the rhythm of their carer.

Question 3

interaction synchrony at two weeks old - Meltzoff and Moore 1977 (3)

Answer 3

Meltzoff and Moore 1977
*observed the beginnings of is in infants at 2 weeks old
*an adult displayed one of the three facial expressions or distinctive gestures and the child’s response was filmed
*association was found between the expression/gesture and the action of the child

Question 4

high synchrony= higher quality attachment
outline research Isabella et al 1989

Answer 4

synchrony provides the necessary foundation for the mother and infant connection which can be built in the future
*Isabella et al. 1989 observed 20 mothers and infants together and assessed the degree of synchrony and the quality of mother infant attachment
*the researchers found that high levels of synchrony were associated with better quality mother-infant attachement

Question 5

reciprocity and eg (3)

Answer 5

Reciprocity is where an infant responds to the actions of another person. With reciprocity the actions of one person (e.g. the mother) elicits a response from the other (e.g. the infant).
Brazelton et al describes this interaction as a ‘dance’ because when a couple dance together they each respond to one another’s movements and rhythm. Likewise, reciprocity as a caregiver– infant interaction is where the interaction between both individuals flows back and forth.

Question 6

attachment definition and common behaviours

Answer 6

Attachment can be defined as an emotional bond between two people in which each seeks closeness and feels more secure when in the presence of the attachment figure. The common behaviours displayed is:
proximity
separation distress
secure-base behaviour

Question 7

Explain a limitation meltzoff and moore
trigger word:
infant observation

Answer 7

same patterns of behaviours ,, what is being observed is just hand movements or changes in expression
difficult to be sure based on the observations, what is taking place from the infants perspective
we cannot be sure interaction has a special or not

Question 8

Condon and sander (4)
Reciprocity

Answer 8

1.studied reciprocity in infants.
2.They analysed frame-by-frame recordings of infants’ movements whilst an adult was talking.
3.They found that the infants coordinated their actions in sequences with the adult’s speech to form a kind of turn- taking conversation.
4..This supports the idea of reciprocity.

Question 9

strength condon and sander
trigger: research uses well-controlled procedures

Answer 9

often filmed from multiple angles - analysed and recorded
demand characteristcs avoided
good validity

Question 10

limitation of research?
purpose

Answer 10

Feldman 2012 synchrony only describes behaviours that occur at the same time
reliable but not useful in purpose

Question 11

limiation
socially sensitive