Infant - Caregiver Interactions

Question 1

Define ‘attachment’.

Answer 1

‘A close two way emotional bond that both individuals see the other as essentialfor their own emotional secuirty.’

Question 2

Define ‘attachment’ according to Schaffer.

Answer 2

‘A close, emotional relationship between two persons characterised by mutal affection and a desire to maintain proximity’.

Question 3

What four characteristics of attachment did Maccoby identify?

Answer 3

1. Seeking proximity.
2. Distress on separation.
3. Pleasure when reunited.
4. Behaviour orientated towards primary caregiver.

Question 4

What are ‘caregiver-infant interactions’ believed to be important for?

Answer 4

Functions in the childrens social development, mainly the development of the infant caregiver attachment.

Question 5

Define ‘reciporcity’.

Answer 5

A description of how two people interact.

Question 6

How are mother-infant interactions reciprocated?

Answer 6

Both respond to each others signals and ellicit a response.

Question 7

What does the regularity og an infants signals allow for?

Answer 7

The caregiver to anticipate the infants behaviour and respond appropriately.

Question 8

Define ‘alert phases’.

Answer 8

When babies signal they are ready for interaction.

Question 9

From what month do alert phases become more frequent?

Answer 9

3 months

Question 10

What do alert phases involve?

Answer 10

Close attention of verbal and facial signs.

Question 11

What is ‘interactional synchrony’?

Answer 11

When a mother and infant interact in a way their actions and emotions mirror each other.

Question 12

Give an example of ‘interactional synchrony’.

Answer 12

Contacts between a child and caregiver where they ‘take turns’ in smiling, cooing, making eye contact in a coordinated manner.

Question 13

What conclusion did Isabella et al make in regards to interactional synchrony?

Answer 13

The higher the levels of synchrony, the better the quality of mother-baby attachment.

Question 14

Outline Meltzoff + Moore’s research into interactional synchrony.

Answer 14

• Observed beginnings of interactional synchrony in infants as young as 2 weeks old.
• Adults performed 1of 3 facial expressions/gestures and the babies would copy.
• An association was found between the expression/gesture the adult displayed and the actions of the babies.

Question 15

Outline Murray + Trevarthen’s research that supports Meltzoff + Moore’s regarding interactional synchrony.

Answer 15

• Observed 2 month old infants interacting with their mothers via a video in real time, then showed a video tape recording of the mother, where there was no response to infants attempted interactions.
• Infants grew distressed at the lack of response, showing infants are actively interacting to ellicit a response.

Question 16

Outline Jean Piaget’s reserach that criticises Meltzoff + Moore’s research regarding interactional synchrony.

Answer 16

• Criticised the proposal that imitation was intentional, suggesting instead this was ‘psuedo-imitation’ and there was no conscious awareness in the infant.
• Rather it was a result of operant conditioning where the behaviour was rewarded by positive responses from the caregiver and so was repeated.

Question 17

List the 2 strengths of infant-caregiver interactions.

Answer 17

1. Research Support
2. Value of Research

Question 18

What is meant by the evaluation point ‘research support’?

Answer 18

• Research that supports that behaviour is intentional.
• Observed infant behaviour when interacting with two inanimate objects;

1. Simulating tongue movements,
2. Opening/closing mouth.

• Infants made little response, concluding that infants do not imitate anything they see, it’s a specific social response to other humans.

Question 19

What is meant by the evaluation point ‘value of research’?

Answer 19

• Investigating behaviours that allow infants to develop their understanding of others.
• Meltzoff - developed a ‘like me’ hypothesis which explains how infants learn about others.
• 1. There is a connection between what the infant sees and their imitation.
• 2. The infant associates their own acts and their own underlying mental states.
• 3. The infant projects their own internal experiences onto others performing similar acts.
• Infant is beginning to acquire an understanding of what others are thinking/feeling; related to the theory of mind and is key for developing relationships.
• Explains how children begin to understand what others think/feel, thus able to conduct relationships.

Question 20

List the 3 limitations of infant-caregiver interactions.

Answer 20

1. Reliability of Testing Infants.
2. Failure to Replicate.
3. Individual Differences.

Question 21

What is meant by the evaluation point ‘reliability of testing infants’?

Answer 21

• Difficult to distinguish between general activity and specific imitated behaviours.
• E.g infants mouths are constantly moving and frequently yawn, smile, poke tongue out which are tested expressions in research.
• Difficult to know if behaviour is response or naturally occuring.

Question 22

What is meant by the evaluation point ‘failure to replicate’?

Answer 22

• Koepke; failed to replicate Meltzoff + Moore’s findings, however he was criticised for being less carefully controlled.
• Marian; replicated the study of Murray + Trevarthen and found that infants couldn’t distinguish life from videotaped interactions with mothers suggesting infants are not actually responding to te adult and behaviour is due to chance, rather than intentional.

Question 23

What is meant by the evaluation point ‘individual differences’?

Answer 23

• Doesn’t consider individual differences between infants that may affect their behaviour.
• Isabella et al; more strongly attached infant-caregiver pairs showed greater interactional synchrony suggesting a link between attachment and IS.
• Heimann; infants who demonstrate a lot of imitation from birth have been found to have a better quality of relationship at 3 months, although cause and effect is not clear.
• Assumes all infants will respond in the same way, when in reality it may be different from infant to infant.