caregiver infant interactions

• Attachment = infants and caregivers develop deep and lasting emotional bonds. Both members of this emotional relationship seek closeness and feel more secure when close to their attachment figure. The strength of the bonds can be seen in a complex two-way caregiver-infant interactions such as reciprocity and interactional synchrony
• reciprocity = similar to a conversation, is a mutual turn-taking form of interaction. Both caregiver and infant contribute to the interaction by responding to the others signals and cues.
• Interactional Synchrony = is a simultaneous interaction between the infant and the caregiver who appear to be acting rhythmically with matching, coordinated behaviour and emotional state.
• Meltzoff + Moore 1977 - an experimenter displayed facial expressions such as sticking out a tongue out and opening their mouth in shock to 12-21-day-old infants. Recordings of the infant’s responses were rated by people blind to the experiment, it was found that infant responses matched the experimenter's facial expressions. These results suggest the ability to observe and reciprocate through imitation is present from a very early age
• Condon + Sander 1974 - videotaped interactions between adults and infants, focussing on the movements of the infants in response to adult speech. Using detailed frame-by-frame analysis of the video recordings, they found evidence of interactional synchrony/coordination between the infants movements and the rhythmic patterns of the adult’s speech. these results suggest that even from birth, humans have an innate ability for social interaction
• Many study’s 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 the micro-sequences of interactions between caregivers and infants. This high control of infant studies indicates high internal validity
• Infants cannot directly communicate their thoughts or emotions. Therefore, findings in care-giver infant interactions research depend on inferences, which are considered unscientific. Inferences are assumptions about infant’s internal mental states based on observed behaviour. However inferences could be mistaken, for example, researchers should not claim imitation behaviour is intentional.
• Social sensitivity = a concern investigating childrearing techniques, including norms around caregiver-infant interactions; some women may find their life choices criticised, such as mothers who decide to return to the workplace shortly after giving birth and cannot develop a high level of interactional synchrony
• Stages of attachment - stage 1 : asocial, 0-6 weeks, infants display innate behaviours (crying/smiling) that ensures 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.
• stages of attachment : 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 the people they frequently see. However they do not yet show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety
• stages of attachment : stage 3 - specific (discriminate) attachment , 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.
• stages of attachment : stage 4 - multiple attachments, 9/10+ months, the infant starts to form attachments with other regular caregivers.
• who identified the 4 stages of attachment 


  Schaffer and Emerson, 1964
• stages of attachment - research by Schaffer and Emerson 1964 incentivised the 4 stages of attachment from the results of a longitudinal study.

  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 an additional follow up visit at 18 months. Two types of behaviour were assessed; stranger anxiety. signs of discomfort when the researcher was left with the infant, and separation anxiety, discomfort when the primary caregiver moved to another room
• research by schaffer and emerson

  Results - separation anxiety occurred in most babies by 25-32 weeks, with stranger distress occurring in most babies approximately one month later. In the 18 month follow up, 81% had developed multiple attachments. The strongest attachment was to those mothers with constant caregiver-infant interaction
• research by schaffer and emerson

  These results suggest - that development occurs in stages outlined by Schaffer, perhaps being a biologically influenced process. As multiple attachments develop quickly , they are important, not just the primary attachment to the mother, argued by researchers such as Bowlby. Also the quality of caregiver-infant interaction directly impacts the strength of the attachment for infants and their mothers
• advantages of schaffer’s experiment

  as infants and their families were observed in their own homes, the study had a high level of mundane realism. The experience for the infants was normal, their mum leaving the room, and strangers visiting the family home are normal occurrences. This suggests the behaviour recorded was valid.
• disadvantages of schaffer's experiment

  The sample in Schaffers experiment may not be generalisable as it only included a group of working-class mothers in 1960s Glasgow. This culture is not representable of the rest of the Uk, or of the rest of the world, The study may also lack temporal validity, as childrearing practices have likely changed significantly in the past 60 years
• Schaffer found that infants primary attachment figure was most frequently their mother - 65%, 30% both parents and only 3% the father alone. However at 18 months, 75% of infants had formed an attachment with their father, showing separation anxiety, suggesting that the father plays an important role in infant lives
• The role of the father - the importance of active play

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

  In modern western society mothers are more likely to take part in the workplace; their is evidence to suggest that if men take on the role of primary caregivers, their interactional style changes to be more like mothers, increasing their capacity for sensitive response