Cargiver-infant Interactions

Question 1

What are the 2 caregiver-infant interactions

Answer 1

Reciprocity

Interactional synchrony

Question 2

What is reciprocity

Answer 2

It’s a form of interaction between infant and caregiver that involves mutual responsiveness (not mirroring), where infant and caregiver respond to each others signals. The caregiver is responding to the infants alert phase
For example, parent singing and a baby smiles

Question 3

What are alert phases

Answer 3

This is when the baby has active involvement and signal through alert phases that they are ready for a spell of interaction. It’s been shown that parents pick up from their babies alert phase 2/3s of the time.

Question 4

What study has been shown in reciprocity

Answer 4

The still face study:
The caregiver and child (age 1) face each other and communicate through mutual responses (the caregiver is responding to their alert phases)
They laugh and use lots of hand movements
Then the mother is told not to respond to the baby for 2 minutes and the baby’s behaviour changes
The baby tries to regain their caregivers attention by screaming and pointing and waving their hands in their face.
Once the 2 minutes is over, the caregiver will respond to the baby and the baby stops crying and screaming.

Question 5

Whats interactional synchrony

Answer 5

This is when the caregiver and baby interact by mirroring what the other is doing by coping facial and body movements. (Emotions and behaviour)

Question 6

Whats the study for interactional synchrony

Answer 6

A psychologist conducted a study and found that children as young as the age of 2 weeks old can imitate specific and facial hand movements.
A baby started with a dummy in their mouth (to prevent a facial response), watched their caregiver create a facial expression (such as opening their mouth). Following the display of the adult model, the dummy was removes and the child’s expression was filmed. The baby copied the caregiver. An association suggested that because the infants were so young, the behaviour is not learnt but innate

Question 7

Strength evaluation

Answer 7

P- The caregiver interactions were controlled
E- They were filmed so no behaviours would be missed, it can be controlled to remove other distractions (EVs), internet-observer reliability, because the videos have been looked at by more than one person
E- Increases validity because the result from the study will be accurate

P- Practical applications (parent skills training)
E- Psychologist found that 10 minute parent- child interaction therapy, improves interactional synchrony in 20 low income mothers with their pre school children
E- Knowledge of caregiver interactions can benefit infants such as increasing the likelihood of developing secure attachments.

Question 8

Limitation evaluation

Answer 8

P- Hard to interpreted babies behaviour
E- Young babies lack coordination, when observing hand movements its might into be deliberate and might be the baby coughing ect. We also cant ask the baby questions to clarifying their movements.
E- limited accuracy as we don’t know if the baby was involving in the caregiver interactions or if the behaviour occurred by chance.

P-It’s more descriptive rather then explainatory
E- observing a behaviour doesn’t tell us the developmental importance. Reciprocity and Interactional synchrony are names of observable behaviours rather then tell us the purpose of these behaviours
E- Cant be certain about observable research alone, that these interactions are useful for child’s development.