Caregiver-Infant Interactions

• What are the two main types of caregiver-infant interactions?

  Reciprocity and interactional synchrony
• What are reciprocal interactions?


  two-way interactions
• What does it mean to have a two-way interaction?

  Both the caregiver and the infant are active contributors
• what does it mean that both the caregiver and infant are active contributors?


  They take turns to elicit responses from each other
• Give an example of reciprocity


  If the infant smiles it will trigger a response in the caregiver, which will then trigger a response in the infant and so on
• What is interactional synchrony?


  When two people interact, they tend to mirror each other in terms of their actions and emotions.
• Give an example of Interactional Synchrony

  Meltzoff and Moore (1977) exposed 2-3 week old infants to an adult model and theeadult model displayed one of three facial expressions. A dummy was placed in the infant's mouth during the display and following the display, the dummy was removed, and the infant's response was filmed.
• What were Meltzoff and Moore's findings?

  They found that the infants often mirrored the facial expression displayed to the adult model
• What is one strength of research into caregiver-infant interactions?

  Interactions are filmed from multiple angles
• Why is filming interactions from multiple angles beneficial?

  It reduces the chance of missing key behaviors
• How does analyzing recordings multiple times by multiple observers enhance research reliability?

  It establishes inter-rater reliability of findings
• What is the advantage of conducting interactions in a controlled laboratory setting?

  It allows control over distracting activities
• Why can we be confident that infants' behavior is natural during observations?

  Infants are unaware they are being observed
• What factors contribute to the reliability and validity of research into caregiver-infant interactions?

  • Filming from multiple angles
  • Multiple observers analyzing recordings
  • Controlled laboratory settings
  • Infants unaware of being observed
• What is one strength of caregiver-infant interactions?

  Evidence supports their role in attachment development
• What did Isabella et al. (1989) study?

  Interactional synchrony in mothers and infants
• How many mothers and infants did Isabella et al. observe?

  30 mothers and infants
• What did Isabella et al. assess in their study?

  The degree of interactional synchrony
• What was the relationship found between interactional synchrony and attachment quality?

  Higher synchrony linked to better attachment quality
• What does the study by Isabella et al. suggest about interactional synchrony?

  It is important for developing quality attachment bonds
• What is one weakness of research into caregiver-infant interactions?

  Problems with intentionality
• Why is intentionality a problem in caregiver-infant interaction research?

  Infants' mouths move constantly, complicating results
• How does the constant motion of infants' mouths affect research validity?

  It lowers internal validity of the findings
• What does low internal validity suggest about research in caregiver-infant interactions?

  Researchers may not be testing intended behaviors
• Who conducted research into caregiver-infant interactions mentioned in the material?

  Meltzoff and Moore
• What specific behavior is mentioned as being tested in caregiver-infant interaction research?

  Sticking tongue out
• What implication does the difficulty in distinguishing between general activity and specific imitated behavior have for research?

  It complicates the interpretation of results
• What specific research methods did Meltzoff and Moore use in their studies?

  Observational methods
• In what context are caregiver-infant interactions typically studied?

  Within developmental psychology
• What are other potential weaknesses in caregiver-infant interaction research?

  Subjectivity and small sample sizes
• What is the implication of low internal validity on psychological theories?

  It questions the reliability of the theories
• Why is imitative behavior significant in developmental psychology?

  It indicates social and cognitive development
• Weakness 2: One weakness is tha spme studies have failed to replicate earlier

  One weakness is that some studies have failed to replicate earlier findings such as those collected by Meltzoff & Moore. For example, a study by Koepke et al. (1983) failed to find any evidence of interactional synchrony in caregiver-infant interactions. This suggests that research in this area lacks reliability as findings are inconsistent over time. 
• What is one weakness of some studies in this area?

  They have failed to replicate earlier findings
• What did the study by Koepke et al. (1983) fail to find evidence of?

  Interactional synchrony in caregiver-infant interactions
• What does the failure to replicate findings suggest about research in this area?

  It lacks reliability due to inconsistent findings
• What are the implications of inconsistent findings in research on caregiver-infant interactions?

  • Indicates lack of reliability
  • Suggests need for further investigation
  • Highlights variability in research outcomes