Caregiver-infant interactions

• Attachment

  Attachment refers to an enduring emotional bond between an infant and caregiver. Both the infant and caregiver seek closeness to one another and feel more secure when in the presence of one another.
• Signs of attachment include


  • Proximity seeking
  • Stranger anxiety
  • Separation anxiety
• Proximity seeking


  Infants try to be physically close to their attachment figure because they provide them with a safe and secure base
• Stranger anxiety


  Infants experience distress when in the presence of an unknown individual
• Separation anxiety


  Infants experience distress when separated from their caregiver.
• Caregiver-infant interactions


  Caregiver-infant interactions help to develop and maintain attachments. Examples of caregiver-infant interactions include:

  • Reciprocity
  • Interactional synchrony:
• Interactional synchrony


  Caregivers and infants respond in time to maintain communication. This

  means that their expressions/behaviour mirror each other’s i.e. they perform the same expression/behaviour at the same time. For example, an infant may move their head in time with their mother.
• Reciprocity


  Interaction flows both ways between the caregiver and infant in a turn-taking fashion. This means that the behaviour of the caregiver will result in a response from the infant and vice versa. Caregivers and infants therefore respond to each other’s signals to maintain interaction. The responses made by the caregiver and infant may be the same (e.g. if a caregiver smiles, their infant may smile back) or different (e.g. if a caregiver makes a surprised facial expression, the infant may giggle).
• Another example of a caregiver-infant interaction is:


  Imitation
• Imitation


  A caregiver and infant may copy each other’s behaviour. E.g. if a caregiver makes a sad facial expression, their infant may copy it by also making a sad facial expression. Unlike interactional synchrony that results by coincidence at the same time, imitation is delayed and on purpose.
• Research into caregiver-infant interactions

  Reciprocity: Murray& Treverthen (1985)

  Interactional synchrony: Isabella et al.(1989)

  Imitation: Meltzoff Moore (1977)
• research of Reciprocity: Murray& Treverthen (1985)


  Aims: To investigate reciprocity between caregivers and infants.

  Procedure: 2-month old infants interacted with their mother via a video monitor in real time. A pre-recorded video tape of their mother was then played meaning the mother’s gestures didn’t respond to those of the infant.

  Results: Infants showed distress when their gestures did not elicit a meaningful response from their mother in the pre- recorded video tape condition.

  Conclusion: Infants play an active role in interacting with their caregivers through reciprocity.
• Research into Interactional synchrony of Isabella


  Aims: To investigate interactional synchrony in caregivers and infant interactions.

  Procedure: Researchers measured how strongly infants were attached to their caregivers. They then recorded interactional

  synchrony between the infants and their caregivers.

  Results: More strongly attached infant-caregiver pairs showed greater interactional synchrony.

  Conclusion: Interactional synchrony plays a role in the quality of infant-caregiver attachments.
• Research of Imitation by Meltzoff & Moore (1977)


  Aims:To examine imitation between caregivers and infants.

  Procedure: Infants were shown facial (e.g., tongue sticking out) and manual (e.g., finger waving) gestures by adults. A dummy was placed in the infants' mouths to prevent immediate responses, then removed, and all responses were video recorded to observe imitation.

  Results: Infants as young as 12 days old imitated both facial and manual gestures.

  Conclusion: Imitation is an innate ability that supports attachment development.
• Evaluation of research into caregiver-infant interactions


  • they are conducted in highly controlled environments to enable standardised procedures to be employed.
  • there is an issue of intentionality with regards to whether infant behaviours are deliberate/conscious.
  • it may be socially sensitive