Caregiver-infant interactions

• Define Attachment

  • An enduring emotional bond between an infant and their caregiver.
  • Both will seek closeness to one another and will feel more secure when in each other’s presence.
  • Signs of attachment therefore include proximity seeking, stranger anxiety and separation anxiety.
• Identify examples of caregiver-infant interactions

  reciprocity, interactional synchrony, imitation
• Distinguish between reciprocity and interactional synchrony

  Reciprocity is a delayed interaction whereas interactional synchrony occurs at the same time.

  Reciprocity can involve the same behaviour (e.g. a mother smiles and her infant smiles back) or a different behaviour (e.g. a mother makes a funny face and her infant giggles). In contrast, interactional synchrony always has to be the same behaviour because they are

  mirroring each other’s actions.
• Outline research into caregiver-infant interactions -develop and maintain attachments

  Research has found that caregivers and infants interact with one another to help develop and maintain attachments. One example of a caregiver-infant interaction is reciprocity which refers to when the caregiver and infant interact in a turn-taking fashion. 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 funny facial expression, the infant may giggle).
• Outline research into caregiver-infant interactions -interactional synchrony

  Another example of a caregiver-infant interaction Interactional synchrony which refers to when caregivers and infants respond in time to maintain communication. This means that their behaviour mirror each other’s i.e. they perform the same behaviour at the same time. For example, an infant and their caregiver may both move their head at the same time. A final example is imitation whereby a caregiver and infant may deliberately copy each other’s behaviour.
• Strength caregiver-infant interaction - reciprocity has received supporting evidence

  study involved infants interacting with their mother via a video monitor in real time. A pre-recorded video of their mother was then played meaning the mother did not respond to the infant’s gestures. They found that infants showed distress when the mother failed to reciprocate. This is a strength as it shows how infants play an active role in interacting with their caregivers through reciprocity. 
• Strength infant caregiver interactions - highly controlled environment - standardised procedures

  the above study was conducted in a lab whereby they standardised the length of time the infants were

  shown the live and pre-recorded videos for. This is a strength because this helped to prevent extraneous variables from affecting the findings e.g. the possibility that infants may have to watch the pre-recorded video for longer and so naturally get more distressed due to the length of time away from the caregiver in person as opposed to the mother in the video not responding to them.  + cred.
• Strength of caregiver-infant interactions - interactional synchrony - supporting evidence

  one study involved measuring the strength of infant’s attachments and then recorded the amount of interactional synchrony they showed with their caregiver. They found that more strongly attached infants showed greater interactional synchrony. This is a strength as it supports the proposal that infants display interactional synchrony to help build strong attachments. 
• Limitation of caregiver-infant interactions - negative social and economic implications

  E.g. the above research would pressure mothers to stay at home more so they can interact with their infants through interactional synchrony to strengthen their attachment. This is a limitation as it places burden on mothers and reduces productivity in female-dominated workplaces such as health and social care. Therefore adds credibility but questions appropriateness.
• Strength of caregiver-infant interactions - imitation has received supporting evidence

  one study involved adults displaying facial gestures to infants (e.g. poking their tongue out) to assess whether the infant could copy what they saw. They found that infants as young as 12 days old could imitate the gestures displayed. This is a strength as it shows that infants have an innate ability to imitate to help them form attachments. 
• Limitation of caregiver-infant interaction issues with imitation being intentional or not

  This is because the gestures that were displayed (e.g. and adult poking their tongue out) are behaviours that infants frequently do anyway. This is a limitation because it may mean that infants were not deliberately imitating. Indeed, given that young infants are unable to communicate verbally, such research relies on subjective assumptions that may not be true. Therefore questions credibility.