Caregiver infant interactions (Meltzoff)

• What was Meltzoff and Moore’s aim?

  • to measure interactional synchrony in infants
• What was Meltzoff and Moore’s method ?

  • Controlled observation

  • Adults displayed one of three facial expressions/ distinctive gestures

  • When gesturing the baby was given a dummy to prevent any response

  • the child’s responses were filmed
• 
  

  What were Meltzoff and Moore‘s results ?

  • clear association between the infants’ behaviour and that if the adult

  
  

  • the babies were aged 2 and 3 weeks old

  
  

  later research found the same results in 3 day old infants
• What was Meltzoff and Moore’s conclusion

  • suggests that interactional synchrony is INNATE
• What are problems with studying the behaviour of babies ?

  • can’t ask babies what they are doing

  • babies make lots of facial and body movements so it’s hard to tell what is general activity and what is imitated

  • lack of internal validity
• disadvantages of Meltzoff and Moore’s research

  • babies cannot communicate so inferences must be made about their behaviour therefore the data is subjective and based on opinion

  • babies often asleep or being fed

  • it’s hard to tell if the babies are intentionally imitating the behaviour or not
• What do psychologists mean by Attachment

  A close two way bond between two individuals

  They see the other as essential for their own emotioinal security

  Attachment endures over time
• What is a 'caregiver'

  The person providing care for the child

  'Securly attached' infants show a desire to be close to their primary caregiver. They are distressed when separated and they gain pleasure upon reuinion
• Proximity seeking 


  When people try to stay physically close to those they are attached to
• Separation anxiety 


  People are distressed when an attachment figure leaves
• Secure base behaviour 


  Explore the environment but return to an attachment figure for comfort
• There are two key types of caregiver-infant interactions

  • Reciprocity
  • Interactional Synchrony
• Reciprocity 


  Reciprocity refers to when the cargiver-infant interaction being a two way/ mutual process. Each person responding to the other's signals to sustain interaction. the behaviour of each person elicits a response from the other

  Babies show reciprocal behaviour by smiling and laughing when spoken to by a parent

  Brazelton et al (1975) described reciprocity as a 'dance' because each partner responds to the others moves. It shows that infants are not in a passive role. thet actively initiate these menaingful interactions with their caregiver
• Interactional Synchrony 


  Where the mother and infant mirror eachothers moments and emotions

  Mother and infant relfect both the actions and emotions of the other in a co-ordinated (Synchronised) way
• (1) weakness of caregiver-infant interactions

  Piaget did not agree that infants under a year of age were deliberately copying others. He said that children were engaged in 'response training' where they repeated a behaviour that was rewarded

  e.g. the parent siticks its toung out , the baby imitates causing the parent to smile ( reward) so does it again.

  The infant doesnt understand that they are matching the movement
• (2) weakness of caregiver-infant interactions

  There are many problems with studying the behaviour of babies

  • Cant ask babies what they are doing so inferences must be used
  • Babies make lots of facial and body movements so its hard to tell what is general activity and what is imitated
  • The research may therefore lack internal validity as it may not be measuring what it intends to measure
• (1) Advantages of caregiver-infant interactions

  Abravanel and DeYoung showed babies aged 5 and 12 weeks objects instead of people and observed very little response to them. This suggests that the behaviour is a specific social response to other humans
• (2) Advantages of caregiver- infant interactions

  Codon & Sander videotaped interactions between adults and neonates focusing on the movements of the neonates in response to adult speech. Using detailed frame-by-frame analysis of the video recordings, they found evidence of interactional synchrony between the neonate's movements and the rhythmic patterns of the adults speech. these results suggest even from birth, humans have an innate ability for social interaction
• (3) Advantages of caregiver-infant interactions


  many studies use multiple observers , blind to the true aims of the experiment to provide inter-rater reliability or even use complex camera systems to document and slow down micro-sequences of interactions between caregivers and infants. This high control of infant studies indicates high internal validity
• Stage 1 :

  Asocial stage - 0-6 weeks - Babies display innate behaviours (crying/smiling) that ensure proximity to any potential caregiver. As their perceptual ability is limited, they will also display these behaviours to non human objects. Anyone can comfort them, as they do not prefer any individual caregiver
• Stage 2 


  Indiscriminate attachment - 6 weeks-7 months - infants develop the ability to tell the difference between humans and objects and between familiar and unfamiliar individuals, smiling more at people they see frequently, However they do not yet show stranger anxiety or separation anxiety
• Stage 3 


  Specific attachment stage - 7-9 months: Babies form a strong attachment to a primary caregiver, most often their mother, it is in this stage that separation anxiety and stranger anxiety develop
• Stage 4


  Multiple attachment - 9/10+ months - the infant starts to form attachments with other regular caregivers and stranger anxiety starts to decrease
• (1) Schaffer's stages of attachment evaluation

  ✅Schaffer and Emerson identified the 4 stages of attachment from the results of longitudinal observation

  Procedure: 60 working class babies and their families from Glasgow were studied. In the first year data was collected through monthly observations and interviews, with a follow-up at 18 months

  Two types of behaviour were assessed stranger anxiety and separation anxiety. It found that separation anxiety occurred mostly between 25-32 weeks, And stranger anxiety occurring one month later. In the follow up session 87% had multiple attachments
• (2)Schaffer's stages of attachment evaluation

  ❌the sample in Schaffer's study may not be generalisable as it only included a group of Working class mothers in 1960's Glasgow; this culture is not reprehensive of much of the UK or the rest of the world . The study may also lack temporal validity , as childrearing practices have likely to have changed significantly in the past 60 years
• (3) Schaffer's stages of attachment evaluation 


  ✅ As infants and their families were observed in their own homes the study had high levels of mundane realism; the experience for the infants was normal. strangers visiting the family home and the care giver temporarily leaving the room are normal occurrences. This suggests the behaviour recorded was valid
• The role of the father

  Schaffer found that infants' primary attachment figure was most frequently their mother alone 65%; 30% both parents and 3% the father alone . However at 18 months 75% of infants had formed an attachment with their father showing separation anxiety , suggesting fathers play an important role in their infant's lives
• The role of a father : The importance of active play

  Fathers are seen to engage babies in active play activities more consistently than mothers. Father's interactions empathise stimulation and so it is thought their role is to encourage risk-taking behaviours, compared to the more comforting style Mothers
• The role of a Father : As a primary caregiver

  In the modern Western society mothers are more likely to take part in the work place; there is evidence to suggest that if men take on the role of primary caregiver , their interactional style changes to be more like mothers increasing their capacity for sensitive responsiveness
• The role of the father : Evaluation (1)

  ✅ Field (1978) observed Primary caregiver mothers, primary caregiver fathers and secondary care giver fathers, interacting with their 4-month-old infants, finding fathers, in general, focused more on game playing and less on holding. Additionally the primary caretaker fathers showed more sensitively responsive behaviour, similar to mothers and child- directed speech than secondary caretaker fathers
• The role of the father: Evaluation (2)

  ✅ Verissimo (2011) observed preschool children's relationships with their Mothers and fathers , then later conducted a follow up assessment of social interactions when the child started nursery . A strong attachment to their father was the best prediction of the ability to make friends in school, suggesting an important role for fathers in socialising
• The role of the father: Evaluation (3)

  ❌ Research into the role of the father is socially sensitive. Research that argues the role of the mother cannot be replaced by the father may lead to the father led single families and families with two fathers feeling they couldn't provide fully for the needs of the child

  ✅ However research that suggests fathers can provide that role necessary for the infants upbringing may give fathers more confidence to take a more active role in their child's upbringing
• The role of the father: Evaluation (4)

  There are economic implications to research assessing the importance of the fathers role; this could lead to legislation that ensures equal paternity and maternity leave.

  ❌ This will reduce the number of males in the workforce , reduce the economic activity and place pressure on businesses

  ✅ However this should help to address the gender pay gap, which is in part due to the need to extend absences by mothers caring for their infants
• Schaffer and Emerson’s aim

  To investigate the formation of early attachment and the age in which attachments develop
• Schaffer and Emerson’s Method

  • The sample were 60 babies from working class families in Glasgow. At the start of the study their ages varied from 5-23 weeks of age. The mothers and babies were visited at home every month For the childs first year and again at 18 months

  • The mothers were interviewed about the kind of protest their child showed in seven everyday separations in order to measure the child’s attachment (sep anxiety)she was also asked to describe the intensity of any protest on A 4 point scale . Stranger anxiety was also measured by assessing their anxiety towards the teacher
• Schaffer and Emerson’s Findings

  • Between 25-32 weeks 50% of the babies showed separation anxiety towards a particular person. The primary attachment tended to be with the caregiver who interacted with the child the most and who was most sensitive to the child’s needs and signals . Children with poor attachments had mothers who failed to interact with them

  • By 40 weeks 80% of the babies has a specific attachment and almost 30% has multiple attachments . These are known as secondary attachments. children show separation anxiety in these relationships