Reprocity And Interactionsl Synchrony

Question 1

What is attachment

Answer 1

A close emotional relationship between two people, characterised by mutual affection and a desire to maintain proximity

Question 2

What is reciprocity??

Answer 2

• caregiver infant interaction is a two way/ mutual process
• to sustain interaction, they each communicate signals which elicit responses in the other e.g: a mother smiles and her baby smiles back

Question 3

What is a study for reciprocity???

Answer 3

-still face experiment
- mother sits down and plays with baby = gives greeting to baby and baby greets back
- trying to coordinate their emotions and intentions with each other
- ask mother to not respond to baby which baby picks up and then tries to interact and smiles and points as mother usually responds and ends up screaming and puts hand out
- baby reacts negatively and experience stress- loses posture and cries

Question 4

What is interactional synchrony???

Answer 4

• caregiver infant interactions are synchronised so that their responses reflect each other
• they respond to sustain communication
• this can mean mirroring the action, imitation or responding in a coordinated way

Question 5

What is a study for interactional synchrony???

Answer 5

• Meltzoff and Moore (1977)
• aim was to investigate the age at which interactional synchrony occurs between mother and child
• an adult model displayed one of three facial expressions or hand movements where fingers moved in a sequence.
• a dummy would be placed into the baby’s mouth during the initial display to prevent a response
• found infants as young as 2-3weeks imitated specific facial and hand gestures

Question 6

What did Maccoby do???

Answer 6

• identified 4 key behaviours to show attachment

-seeking proximity = infant try to stay close to attachment figure
-distress on separation = both caregiver and infant will experience signs of distress when separated
- pleasure when reunited = signs of pleasure from child and caregiver when reunited
- general orientation of behaviour towards PAF = infant and caregiver will direct attention to each other and try to engage each other in activities and interaction.

Question 7

What are the strengths of reciprocity and interactional synchrony??

Answer 7

• evidence to support for both
• Practical applications

Question 8

What are the weaknesses of interactional synchrony and reciprocity???

Answer 8

• socially sensitive
• explanation may be incomplete

Question 9

What is the research to support for reciprocity?

Answer 9

• point = research support
• findings of the still face experiment
• shows how reciprocity is an important feature of an infant and caregivers bond and that without reciprocity there will be long term affects psychologically to infant and possibly in between the infants bonds with the mother.
• therefore, concept of reciprocity is more valid for explanation which makes it more credible and development allowed

Question 10

What is the research evidence for interactional synchrony??

Answer 10

• point = research support
• findings of the Meltzoff and Moore experiment
• shows how infants are able to form and understand attachments at a very young age which suggests how attachment are important values for babies.
  Therefore, this concept of reciprocity becomes more valid which creates the explanation to be credible and practical applications developed

Question 11

What is the practical applications of reciprocity and interactional synchrony??

Answer 11

• practical applications from still face exp
• procedure can be used to measure atypical development in children - if children not show distress in still face exp, then further investigations are needed
• means that help can be provided to children and caregivers, aiding development
  Therefore, this would be beneficial for society and can help safeguard healthy development

Question 12

Why is the explanations being socially sensitive a weakness??

Answer 12

• due to the nature of modern society, many mothers and fathers work full time and may struggle to maintain close proximity and reciprocate the infants responses as frequently as others
• suggesting parents must provide these interactions for healthy development could inadvertently create unnecessary pressure
• therefore, this research must be careful to not defend whole groups of society

Question 13

Why might the explanations being incomplete a weakness??

Answer 13

• the whole focus is on how one caregiver interacts with an infant and how this affects attachment
• however, we know that other caregivers play on important roles in development. This attachment is likely to occur with more than one caregiver
• this means that this explanation is not provided a complete explanation on attachment with all caregivers